Canada mining is really becoming the spot to be. One of the...

Canada mining is really becoming the spot to be.


One of the largest undeveloped open pit gold projects in North America gets its PFS

First Mining Gold (TSX: FF) announced its pre-feasibility for its Springpole gold project located in northwestern Ontario, Canada.
The PFS results support a 30,000 tonnes-per-day open pit mining operation over an 11.3 year mine life.
Highlights are the following:

• US$1.5 billion pre-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate (“NPV5%” at US$1,600/oz gold (“Au”, increasing to US$1.9 billion at US$1,800/oz Au
  US$995 million after-tax NPV5% at US$1,600/oz Au, increasing to US$1.3 billion at US$1,800/oz Au
• 36.4% pre-tax internal rate of return (“IRR”; 29.4% after-tax IRR at US$1,600/oz Au
• Life of mine of 11.3 years, with primary mining and processing during the first 9 years and processing lower-grade stockpiles for the balance of the mine life
  After-tax payback of 2.4 years
• Declaration of Mineral Reserves: Proven and Probable Reserves of 3.8 Moz Au, 20.5 Moz silver (121.6 Mt at 0.97 g/t Au, 5.23 g/t Ag)
• Initial capital costs estimated at US$718 million, sustaining capital costs estimated at US$55 million, plus US$29 million in closure costs
• Average annual payable gold production of 335 koz (Years 1 to 9); 287 koz (LOM)
  Total cash costs of US$558/oz (Years 1 to 9); and US$618/oz (LOM)(1)
  All-in sustaining costs (“AISC” of US$577/oz (Years 1 to 9), and AISC US$645 (LOM)

“This PFS is an important milestone for the company as we continue to advance and de-risk the Springpole Gold Project,” stated Dan Wilton, CEO of First Mining. “First Mining is declaring mineral reserves for the first time ever on the Springpole Gold Project, reflecting the culmination of a year of detailed data collection, trade-off studies, and engineering and technical de-risking work done by First Mining and our partners on our project team. The results of the PFS confirm that Springpole has the potential to become a strategically significant, highly profitable gold mine in one of the most attractive mining jurisdictions in North America.
"The work we have undertaken to date to reduce the potential environmental impact from the project demonstrates the potential for Springpole to be developed in a responsible manner and to mitigate long-term impacts. We look forward to the Project’s continual improvement through collaboration with our local and Indigenous communities of interest as we advance Springpole through the federal and provincial Environmental Assessment processes.
"We are very excited to have added Steve Lines and his team to lead this effort for First Mining. The team’s recent and significant experience successfully permitting the Hardrock project in Ontario and other similar open pit mining projects in Canada requiring in-lake cofferdams and associated dewatering will serve us well as we continue to advance Springpole.”
The company says its Springpole Gold Project, located in northwestern Ontario, Canada, is one of the largest undeveloped open pit gold projects in North America. The project is located approximately 110 kilometres northeast of Red Lake. Springpole currently hosts 4.6 million ounces of gold in the Indicated Mineral Resource category and 0.3 Moz of gold in the Inferred Mineral Resource category.