First Mining Gold Corp. (“First Mining” or the
“Company”) (TSX:FF) (OTCQX:FFMGF) (FRANKFURT:FMG) is
pleased to announce that it has commenced a metallurgical study on
the Company’s Springpole Gold Project (“Springpole”) located in
northwestern Ontario, and it has selected M3 Engineering and
Technology Corporation (“M3”) to lead this study.
The primary purpose of this metallurgical study
is to determine the optimal flow sheet for Springpole. M3 will
supervise the design and execution of the test work program, and
the results from the study are expected to be incorporated into the
preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) for Springpole,
expected to be completed in 2019.
A secondary focus of the study is to attempt to
improve the recovery of gold for the current whole-ore
Carbon-in-Pulp (“CIP”) flowsheet developed in the 2017 Preliminary
Economic Assessment (“PEA”) as well as optimize recovery for the
flotation flowsheet being investigated.
M3 is a full-service international engineering
firm providing engineering, procurement and construction management
services to the minerals industry. Founded in 1986, M3 has
engineered and managed the construction of over $5.0 billion in
mining projects and has won numerous awards, including two dozen
prestigious awards from 2005 to 2016 including several Awards of
Excellence in structural engineering and the American Mining Hall
of Fame's 2007 Mining Foundation of the Southwest Industry
Partnership Award.
Jeff Swinoga, President and CEO of First Mining
commented, “Launching this metallurgical study is a significant
milestone that will improve our understanding of the processing
options at Springpole. We are also very pleased to have
engaged a reputable, first-class engineering company such as M3,
with their substantial expertise in successfully building
processing plants in the mining industry. By
determining the optimal flow sheet, we can move forward with a PFS
for Springpole while we continue to advance the Environmental
Assessment and permitting processes. By potentially
increasing the estimated gold recoveries, we may be able to
significantly improve the already attractive economics of
Springpole, which is considered one of the largest undeveloped gold
projects in Canada.”
Daniel H. Neff, Chairman of M3 stated, “We are
pleased that First Mining has chosen M3 to investigate processing
options for the Springpole project. We are hopeful this
engagement will lead to future work with First Mining, whether it’s
their flagship Springpole project’s PFS or one of their four other
significant gold projects in eastern Canada.”
The PEA for Springpole, which was completed in
October 2017, contemplated a whole-ore CIP flowsheet; however, the
Company will continue investigation of a flotation process with
leaching of the flotation concentrate. While whole-ore CIP was
demonstrated as an appropriate process in prior test work, the
flotation route, if deemed feasible, could potentially result in
savings in both operating and capital costs, as well as improved
recovery.
Dr. Chris Osterman, P.Geo., COO of First Mining,
is the “qualified person” for the purposes of National Instrument
43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”)
and he has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical
disclosure contained in this news release.
About the Springpole Project
Springpole is one of the largest undeveloped
gold projects in Canada and covers over 32,000 hectares in
northwestern Ontario. The 207 PEA for Springpole projected
average annual payable production of 296,500 ounces of gold (Oz.
Au) and 1,632,000 ounces of silver (Oz. Ag) for the life of the
mine. The PEA also estimated an after-tax net present value at a 5%
discount rate of US$792 million and an after-tax internal rate of
return of 26.2% for the base case. The project hosts an NI 43-101
Indicated Resource of 139.1 million tonnes (Mt) at
1.04 grams per tonne (g/t) Au, 5.4 g/t Ag, containing
4,670,000 Oz. Au and 24,190,000 Oz. Ag. In addition, there is an
Inferred Resource of 11.4 Mt with an average grade of 0.63 g/t
Au, 3.1 g/t Ag, containing 230,000 ounces of gold and
1,120,000 ounces of silver.
Readers are cautioned that the 2017 PEA is
preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that
are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic
considerations applied to them that would enable them to be
categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the
2017 PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not
mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Actual results may vary, perhaps materially. The Company is
not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation,
socio-political, marketing or other issue which may materially
affect this estimate of mineral resources. The projections,
forecasts and estimates presented in the 2017 PEA constitute
forward-looking statements and readers are urged not to place undue
reliance on such forward-looking statements. Additional
cautionary and forward-looking statement information is detailed at
the end of this news release.
ABOUT FIRST MINING GOLD
CORP.
First Mining Gold Corp. is an emerging
development company with a diversified portfolio of gold projects
in North America. Having assembled a large resource base
of 7 million ounces of gold in the
Measured and Indicated categories
and 5 million ounces of gold in the
Inferred category in mining friendly jurisdictions
of eastern Canada, First Mining is now focused on advancing its
assets towards production. The Company currently holds a
portfolio of 25 mineral assets in Canada, Mexico and the United
States.
For further information, please contact Jeff
Swinoga, President and CEO at 416-816-0424, or Derek Iwanaka, Vice
President of Investor Relations at 604-639-8824, or visit our
website at www.firstmininggold.com.
ON BEHALF OF FIRST MINING GOLD
CORP.
“Keith Neumeyer”
Keith NeumeyerChairman
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain
"forward-looking information” and "forward-looking statements”
(collectively "forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of
applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation
including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made as of
the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are
frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects”,
"anticipates”, "believes”, “plans”, “projects”, "intends”,
"estimates”, “envisages”, "potential”, "possible”, “strategy”,
“goals”, “objectives”, or variations thereof or stating that
certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might"
or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of
these terms and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements in this news release
relate to future events or future performance and reflect current
estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future
events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect
to: (i) M3 supervising the design and execution of the
metallurgical test work program for Springpole; (ii) the
incorporation of the results from the metallurgical test work
program into a Pre-Feasibility Study for Springpole; (iii)
preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study for Springpole commencing in
2019; (iv) the potential improvement in gold recoveries for the
current whole-ore CIP flowsheet developed in the 2017 PEA for
Springpole; (v) the metallurgical test work program for Springpole
improving the Company’s understanding of the processing options;
(vi) improving the economics of Springpole and any potential
savings in operating and capital costs from a flotation process as
opposed to a whole-ore CIP process; (vii) the 2017 PEA representing
a viable development option for Springpole; (viii) construction of
a mine at Springpole and related actions; (ix) estimates of the
capital costs of constructing mine facilities and bringing a mine
into production, of sustaining capital and the duration of
financing payback periods; (x) the estimated amount of future
production, both produced and metal recovered; and (xi) life of
mine estimates and estimates of operating costs and total costs,
net cash flow, net present value and economic returns from an
operating mine constructed at Springpole. All forward-looking
statements are based on First Mining's or its consultants' current
beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information
currently available to them. The most significant assumptions
are set forth above, but generally these assumptions include: (i)
the success in realizing the objectives of the metallurgical test
work program; (ii) the presence of and continuity of metals at the
Project at estimated grades; (iii) the geotechnical and
metallurgical characteristics of rock conforming to sampled
results, including the quantities of water and the quality of the
water that must be diverted or treated during mining operations;
(iv) the capacities and durability of various machinery and
equipment; (v) the availability of personnel, machinery and
equipment at estimated prices and within the estimated delivery
times; (vi) currency exchange rates; (vii) metals sales prices and
exchange rate assumed; (viii) appropriate discount rates applied to
the cash flows in the economic analysis; (ix) tax rates and royalty
rates applicable to the proposed mining operation; (x) the
availability of acceptable financing under assumed structure and
costs; (xi) metallurgical performance; (xii) reasonable contingency
requirements; (xiii) success in realizing proposed operations;
(xiv) receipt of permits and other regulatory approvals on
acceptable terms; and (xv) the fulfillment of environmental
assessment commitments and arrangements with local
communities. Although the Company’s management considers
these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently
available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements
involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and
specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections
and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that
assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution
readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual
outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates assumptions and intentions
expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk
factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions
and estimates expressed above do not occur as forecast, but
specifically include, without limitation: (i) general risks
relating to metallurgical test work programs; (ii) variations in
rates of recovery and extraction; (iii) the geotechnical
characteristics of the rock mined or through which infrastructure
is built differing from that predicted, the quantity of water that
will need to be diverted or treated during mining operations being
different from what is expected to be encountered during mining
operations or post closure, or the rate of flow of the water being
different; (iv) developments in world metals markets; (v) risks
relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar relative to the US
dollar; (vi) increases in the estimated capital and operating costs
or unanticipated costs; (vii) difficulties attracting the necessary
work force; (viii) availability of necessary financing and any
increases in financing costs or adverse changes to the terms of
available financing, if any; (ix) tax rates or royalties being
greater than assumed; (x) changes in development or mining plans
due to changes in logistical, technical or other factors; (xi)
changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined;
(xii) risks relating to receipt of permits and regulatory
approvals; (xiii) delays in stakeholder negotiations (including
negotiations with affected First Nation groups); (xiv) changes in
regulations applying to the development, operation, and closure of
mining operations from what currently exists; (xv) the effects of
competition in the markets in which First Mining operates; (xvi)
operational and infrastructure risks; (xvii) management’s
discretion to refocus the Company’s exploration efforts and/or
alter the Company’s short and long term business plans; and (xviii)
the additional risks described in First Mining's Annual Information
Form for the year ended December 31, 2017 filed with the Canadian
securities regulatory authorities under the Company’s SEDAR profile
at www.sedar.com, and in First Mining’s Annual Report on Form 40-F
filed with the SEC on EDGAR.
First Mining cautions that the foregoing list of
factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive.
When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions
with respect to First Mining, investors and others should carefully
consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and
potential events. First Mining does not undertake to update
any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be
made from time to time by the Company or on our behalf, except as
required by law.
Cautionary Note to United States
Investors
This news release has been prepared in
accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect
in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities
laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve
estimates included in this news release have been prepared in
accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure
for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101”) and the Canadian Institute of
Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum 2014 Definition Standards on
Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule
developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which
establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of
scientific and technical information concerning mineral
projects. Canadian standards, including NI 43-101, differ
significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission ("SEC”), and mineral resource and reserve
information contained herein may not be comparable to similar
information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and
without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term
"resource” does not equate to the term "reserves”. Under U.S.
standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve”
unless the determination has been made that the mineralization
could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time
the reserve determination is made. The SEC's disclosure
standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information
concerning "measured mineral resources”, "indicated mineral
resources” or "inferred mineral resources” or other descriptions of
the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not
constitute "reserves” by U.S. standards in documents filed with the
SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or
all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted
into reserves. U.S. investors should also understand that
"inferred mineral resources” have a great amount of uncertainty as
to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and
legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part
of an "inferred mineral resource” will ever be upgraded to a higher
category. Under Canadian rules, estimated "inferred mineral
resources” may not form the basis of feasibility or Pre-Feasibility
studies except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to
assume that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource”
exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of
"contained ounces” in a resource is permitted disclosure under
Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits
issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute
"reserves” by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without
reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for
identification of "reserves” are also not the same as those of the
SEC, and reserves reported by the Company in compliance with NI
43-101 may not qualify as "reserves” under SEC standards.
Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth
herein may not be comparable with information made public by
companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fcd24623-889b-48aa-8d9b-3597d1d73464
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