First Mining Commences Permitting FOR Construction of Access ROAD to Its Hope Brook GOLD Project
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FIRST MINING COMMENCES PERMITTING FOR CONSTRUCTION OF
ACCESS ROAD TO ITS HOPE BROOK GOLD PROJECT
July 9, 2018
VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA – First Mining Gold Corp. (“First Mining” or the “Company”)
is pleased to announce the commencement of permitting for the construction of a low -profile,
resource access road (the “Access Road”) to connect its Hope Brook Gold Project (“Hope
Brook”) in southeast Newfoundland, Canada to the Burgeo Highway or Highway 480. A Project
Registration Document (the “Registrati on Document”) was recently submitted to the
Environmental Assessment Division of the Government of Newfoundland and Labr ador in
relation to the Access Road. It is currently undergoing a standard 45-day review process and the
document can be accessed at:
http://www.mae.gov.nl.ca/env_assessment/projects/projects_under_review.html.
Jeff Swinoga, President & CEO of First Mining stated, “We hope that the initiation of permitting
for this access road is just the first step in a series of future milestones in advancing one of ou r
most promising gold projects. Our Hope Brook Gold P roject in Newfoundland is a former
producing gold mine and has a high grade mineral resource located in a very favourable
jurisdiction.”
The Access Road will be approximately 58 kilometres in length and is intended to provide light to
intermediate-sized vehicles with access to the Hope Brook property to support mineral
development activities to be conducted by First Mining.
The Registration Document is intended to initiate the prov incial Environmental Assessment
(“EA”) review process in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Registration Document:
• identifies the proponent (First Mining) and nature of the undertaking;
• describes the proposed Access Road , including its purpose, rationale and alternatives,
as well as key components and planned construction and operational activities;
• provides an overview of the natural and human environment al setting for the Access
Road;
• describes potential environmental interactions and planned mitigation; and
• identifies the main permits, licences and approvals required for the Access Road.
The Company is also planning a broad range of environmental baseline studies this year at Hope
Brook, as well as along the proposed Access Road corridor, to collect the necessary biophysical
data to support a potential EA and future permitting requirements. These studies include fish
community and habitat surveys, Species at Risk surveys, as well as surface, ground water and
hydrology surveys. Field work for these surveys is planned for August and September of this
year.
The current resource estimate for the Hope Brook gold project, using a 3.00 g/t gold (“Au”) cut-off
grade, is as follows:
Hope Brook Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate*
Resource
Category
Tonnes
(rounded)
Au grade
(g/t)
Contained oz
Au (rounded)
Indicated 5,500,000 4.77 844,000
Inferred 836,000 4.11 110,000
* Notes:
1. Based on the technical report titled “2015 Mineral Resource Estimate Technical Report for the Hope
Brook Gold Project, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada”, dated November 20, 2015, which was
prepared by Mercator Geological Services Limited in accordance wit h the requirements of National
Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). The report can be
found under First Mining’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com , and on First Mining’s website at
www.firstmininggold.com.
2. Includes only Mine Zone and 240 Zone areas.
3. The above mineral resource estimate is based on a partial percentage block model with dike material
removed. Dike percent is estimated at 18% for the Mine Zone and 0 % for the 240 Zone.
4. Gold grades reflect application of domain-specific raw assay capping factors that range between 55 g/t
Au and 3 g/t Au.
5. Rounding of tonnes may result in apparent differences between tonnes, grade and contained ounces.
6. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The
estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental permitting, legal, title,
taxation, sociopolitical, metal pricing, marketing, or other relevant issues.
7. The gold cut -off value of 3.00 g/t reflects a reasonable expectation of economic viability based on
application of underground mining methods, historic gold recovery levels that range between 80% and
91% for past production (86% for Coastal Gold testing) and a long term gold price of US$1,200 per
ounce.
Figure 1: Map Showing the Location of the Hope Brook Project
Figure 2: Map Showing the Proposed Access Road
Hope Brook Camp
Source: First Mining Gold Corp.
Dr. Chris Osterman, P.Geo., COO of First Mining, is the “qualified person” for the purposes of NI
43-101 and he has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in
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 Je ff 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 Neumeyer
Chairman
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) the approximate length of the proposed Access Road; (ii) the
provincial EA process in Newfoundland for the Access Road; (iii) the broad range of environmental
baseline studies planned to be carried out at Hope Brook this year ; (and (iv) the future development of
Hope Brook and advancing it towards production. 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. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate,
and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the
statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered
reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive,
political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or
achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties
have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors
include, without limitation; issues that may be identified during the provincial EA process for the Access
Road; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities;
fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar); changes in
national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic
developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and
mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations,
pressures, cave-ins and flooding); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on
mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities, indigenous populations
and other stakeholders; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the
speculative nature of miner al exploration and development; title to properties.; and the additional risks
described in the Company’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
the Company’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, and
should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news
release. 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.