First Mining Gold Corp. (TSX:FF, OTCQX:FFMGF) reported that its district exploration programs returned high-grade gold mineralization and favourable soil geochemistry anomalies at its Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt (BUGB) project in the Red Lake Mining District of Ontario, near the company's Springpole Gold project.
The Vancouver-based gold developer kicked off a district-scale exploration program as part of a multi-year strategy to unlock the exploration potential of the over 70,000-hectare property.
The mineral tenure comprising the BUGB project surrounds Springpole, and was advanced to a pre-feasibility study that was completed in January 2021 and contains an Indicated Resource of 4.6 million ounces gold (Au) at 0.94 g/t and additional Inferred Resource of 300 koz Au at 0.54 g/t Au, according to the technical report prepared by AGP Mining Consultants. First Mining said it is now “advancing” Springpole toward “a feasibility study.”
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The exploration work included initial screening campaigns comprised of geochemical, geological, and geophysical surveys over key transects and favourable exploration features of the BUGB property.
The exploration team is completing data acquisition that is targeted across the project area in a first-ever district-scale regional program that aims to establish priority targeting.
"We are very excited to be embarking on our first district-scale exploration program in the Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt. We are encouraged by the initial results of the rock and soil sampling programs and the results of the regional airborne geophysical survey," First Mining CEO Dan Wilton said in a statement.
"Our exploration program represents the next pillar of growth, and we are confident that our continued exploration success will add significant optionality by delivering sizeable exploration growth potential for First Mining and socio-economic benefits in the region as we aim to grow our current 21% indigenous employee base."
First Mining highlighted its exploration high points as follows:
- District rock sampling programs have returned significant gold results across multiple centres of mineralization over the project area and are highlighted by higher grade samples including 42.4 g/t Au at the Sirius target, 34.7 g/t Au at the historic Sol D'Or Mine, 15.4 g/t Au at the Bronco target, and 15.3 g/t Au at the Canamer target;
- Additional significant and anomalous supporting gold results from rock samples continue to build up a sizeable district dataset for targeting of mineralization hot spots and favourably endowed gold trends;
- Regional airborne geophysics coverage has now been completed over much of the BUGB area following the flying of a 3,843 line-kilometre, high resolution magnetic and electro-magnetic survey.
Investors can find more work program highlights here.
While talking about upcoming exploration activities, First Mining noted that it is “committed to an Anishinaabe Impact Assessment” working with local First Nation communities with the aim of increasing the ability of community members to participate in future negotiations and employment opportunities.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive