First Mining Announces Updated Goldlund Resource And Goldlund Exploration Update
First Mining Announces Updated Goldlund Resource And Goldlund Exploration Update
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2019 / First Mining Gold Corp. (''First Mining''
or the ''Company'') is pleased to announce the results of an updated mineral resource estimate for its
wholly-owned Goldlund gold project (''Goldlund'') in northwestern Ontario, Canada.
Updated Goldlund Resource
This updated mineral resource estimate, which has an effective date of March 15, 2019, was prepared in
accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (''NI 43-101'')
by WSP Canada Inc. (''WSP'') of Sudbury, Ontario. A technical report for this updated mineral resource
estimate for Goldlund will be filed by the Company under the Company's SEDAR profile
at www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website, within 45 days of the date of this news release.
Only two of seven domains were updated in order to incorporate drilling results from the 40,000 metre
infill drill program completed in 2018. The two zones updated are Zone 1 and Zone 7. A summary of the
changes in the updated mineral resource estimate for Goldlund is as follows:
Changes to Zone 1:
• Zone 1 Indicated Resource gold (''Au'') ounces (''oz.'') increased by 37,950 oz. This increase in oz.
corresponds to a decrease in tonnage of 625,600 tonnes from 5,508,000 tonnes at an average
grade of 1.65 grams per tonne (''g/t'') Au to 4,882,400 tonnes at an average grade of 2.16 g/t Au.
• Zone 1 Inferred Resource Au oz. decreased by 219,800 oz. This represents an overall reduction in
tonnage of 6,514,000 tonnes, with the number of tonnes decreasing from 17,802,000 tonnes at an
average grade of 1.36 g/t Au to 11,288,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.54 g/t Au.
Changes to Zone 7:
• Zone 7 Indicated Resource Au oz. increased by 210,750 oz. This increase in oz. represents a
corresponding increase in tonnage of 4,161,600 tonnes at an average grade of 1.58 g/t Au from
zero tonnes previously.
• Zone 7 Inferred Resource Au oz. decreased by 446,560 oz. after adjusting for the proportion of
Inferred Resource tonnes removed due to the upgrade of certain tonnes to the Indicated Resource
category. This represents an overall reduction in tonnage of 16,019,000 tonnes, with the number
of tonnes decreasing from 17,947,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.28 g/t Au to 1,928,000
tonnes at an average grade of 1.29 g/t Au.
Overall Changes to the Goldlund Resource:
• In total, Indicated Resource Au oz. increased by 248,700 oz. This increase in oz. corresponds to
an increase in tonnage of 3,595,900 tonnes from 9,324,100 tonnes at an average grade of 1.87 g/t
Au to 12,860,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.96 g/t Au.
• In total, Inferred Resource Au oz. decreased by 628,400 oz., after adjusting for the proportion of
Inferred Resource tonnes removed due to the upgrade of certain tonnes and grade to the Indicated
Resource category. This represents an overall reduction in tonnage of 22,533,000 tonnes from
40,895,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.33 g/t Au to 18,362,000 tonnes at an average grade of
1.49 g/t Au.
Daniel W. Wilton, Chief Executive Officer of First Mining, stated, ''This resource update provides a solid
foundation upon which we can continue to grow the Goldlund resource. We are pleased with the increase
in Indicated Mineral Resources at Goldlund, and with our enhanced understanding of the Goldlund
deposit as a result of this latest resource update on the project. While the pit-constrained Inferred
Resource contains fewer tonnes and ounces, we have a much greater confidence in the overall resource
now that it incorporates an additional 40,000 m of infill drilling. We believe our technical team will
benefit from this greater understanding of, and confidence in, the controls on mineralization at Goldlund
as we continue to advance this exciting project and further unlock its substantial exploration potential.''
The following table (Table 1) provides a comparison between the mineral resource estimate from the
initial NI 43-101 technical report on Goldlund, dated February 7, 2017, that was prepared for First Mining
by WSP, and the updated mineral resource estimate that takes into account the additional 138 drill holes
in Zones 7 and 1 that were drilled by First Mining during the 2017/2018 Phase 1 and 2 drill programs at
Goldlund:
Table 1: Undiluted Mineral Resource Estimates Within a US$1,350/oz Whittle Pit Shell
Resource
Classification
WSP 2017 Initial Resource Estimate WSP 2019 Updated Resource
Estimate
Tonnes Grade (Au
g/t) Ounces Tonnes Grade
(Au g/t) Ounces
Measured - - - - - -
Indicated (Zone 1) 5,508,000 1.65 292,197 4,882,400 2.16 330,150
Indicated (Zone 2) 1,642,900 1.76 93,000 1,642,900 1.76 93,000
Indicated (Zone 3) 0 - - - - -
Indicated (Zone 4) 1,664,600 2.73 146,100 1,664,600 2.73 146,100
Indicated (Zone 5) - - - - - -
Indicated (Zone 7) - - - 4,161,600 1.58 210,753
Indicated (Zone 8) 508,600 2.00 29,200 508,600 2.00 29,200
Indicated (Total) 9,324,100 1.87 560,497 12,860,000 1.96 809,200
Measured &
Indicated (Total) 9,324,100 1.87 560,497 12,860,000 1.96 809,200
Inferred (Zone 1) 17,802,000 1.36 778,422 11,288,000 1.54 558,600
Inferred (Zone 2) 1,028,000 1.22 40,000 1,028,000 1.22 40,000
Inferred (Zone 3) 1,385,000 1.61 71,666 1,385,000 1.61 71,666
Inferred (Zone 4) 734,000 2.40 57,000 734,000 2.40 57,000
Inferred (Zone 5) 1,284,000 1.19 49,000 1,284,000 1.19 49,000
Inferred (Zone 7) 17,947,000 1.28 737,004 1,928,000 1.29 79,688
Inferred (Zone 8) 715,000 0.90 21,000 715,000 0.90 21,000
Inferred (Total) 40,895,000 1.33 1,754,092 18,362,000 1.49 876,954
Notes:
1. The numbers in the three columns of the above table under the heading “WSP 2019
Updated Resource Estimate” are from the updated mineral resource estimate on Goldlund
that has an effective date of March 15, 2019, and that was prepared by WSP’s Todd
McCracken, P.Geo., an independent “qualified person” within the meaning of NI 43-101.
2. The numbers in the three columns of the above table under the heading “WSP 2017
Initial Resource Estimate” are from the mineral resource estimate on Goldlund that is set
out in the technical report titled “Technical Report and Resource Estimation Update on
the Goldlund Project” dated February 7, 2017, which was prepared by WSP’s Todd
McCracken, P.Geo., in accordance with NI 43-101 and is available under First Mining’s
SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
3. A base case cut-off grade of 0.4 g/t Au was used for both the WSP 2019 Updated
Resource Estimate and the WSP 2017 Initial Resource Estimate.
4. For both the WSP 2019 Updated Resource Estimate and the WSP 2017 Initial Resource
Estimate, resources are stated as contained within a conceptual pit shell using a metal
price of US$1,350 per ounce of gold, mining costs of US$2.00 per tonne, processing plus
G&A costs of US$15.40 per tonne, 93% recoveries and an average pit slope of 48
degrees.
5. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic
viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources will be
converted into mineral reserves.
6. In this table, all mineral resource tonnage and contained metal numbers have been
rounded to reflect the accuracy of the WSP 2019 Updated Resource Estimate and the
WSP 2017 Initial Resource Estimate, and numbers may not add due to rounding.
Since the initial NI 43-101 technical report on Goldlund was filed by First Mining on SEDAR on
February 7, 2017, First Mining has completed 40,197 metres (''m'') of drilling on the current resource
body at Goldlund across the following two drill programs:
• A Phase 1 drill program comprising a total of 100 holes (24,300 m of drilling) over the entire
Zone 7 portion of the granodiorite dike, with 87 of the holes intersecting intervals of significant
gold mineralization. Drill holes were spaced at 50 m along strike by 25 m across strike in order to
address the nugget effect of very high gold values. The program confirmed that mineralization
presents as free gold and calaverite in a quartz-ankerite pyrite stockwork. The stockwork is very
consistent from the hangingwall to the footwall of the granodiorite, whereas the gold distribution
occurs irregularly in the stockwork above inflections in the strike of the footwall of the dike. This
drill program helped the Company's technical team to delineate additional Indicated resource
ounces at Goldlund and to enhance our geological knowledge of the mineral deposit.
• A Phase 2 drill program comprising a total of 38 new holes (14,961 m of drilling), mostly all in
Zone 1 of the resource body, with 33 of the holes intersecting intervals of significant gold
mineralization. This drill program targeted existing Inferred resources in the vicinity of the
historic underground workings. The constraining wireframes were adjusted by WSP to reflect the
additional information presented in the Phase 2 drill hole data.
The results of the Phase 1 and 2 drill programs have previously been announced by First Mining (for a
comprehensive summary of the Phase 1 results please refer to the Company's news releases in 2017 dated
April 25th, May 2nd, May 24th, June 20th, July 10th, July 27th and September 11th; for a comprehensive
summary of the Phase 2 results, please refer to the Company's news releases in 2018 dated February 5th,
February 8th, April 17th and May 15th).
These 138 drill holes in Zones 7 and 1 that were drilled by First Mining during the Phase 1 and 2 drill
programs were incorporated by WSP into the updated mineral resource estimate for Goldlund, nearly
doubling the number of holes in Zone 7 that had been used by WSP for their initial 2017 resource estimate.
During the course of the Zone 7 drilling, First Mining geologists observed that while the entire width of the
granodiorite sill that hosts mineralization was susceptible to the development of stockwork, not all of the
stockwork was susceptible to gold mineralization. Gold mineralization was shown to concentrate in the
third of the sill toward the footwall. Consequently, the incorporation of this increased geologic
understanding resulted in a reduction in tonnes in the "in-situ" model for Zone 7 which was further impacted
by the Whittle pit constraint applied to develop the reportable resource.
The Zone 1 domain is both larger in area and more extensively drilled than Zone 7, and it also exhibits
some zoning of gold mineralization within the granodiorite sill. However, the extent of the spatial
concentration of this mineralization is less pronounced than at Zone 7. After incorporating drill data from
the Phase 2 drilling, WSP made adjustments to the wireframes of the mineralized zone in Zone 1 to reflect
this new understanding of the spatial concentration of the mineralization, which resulted in fewer Inferred
Resource tonnes in the pit-constrained resource at a higher average grade.
In summary, the updated mineral res ource estimate for Goldlund incorporated more than 40,000 m of
incremental drilling, the majority of which was focused on increasing the confidence of the resource in
Zone 7. While the increased data density and geological understanding of the deposit resulted in increased
confidence of the resource, adding 3,535,900 tonnes into the Indicated Resource at an average grade of 1.96
g/t, it also resulted in a reduction in tonnes and ounces in the Inferred Resource category. The First Mining
team believes that t he increased understanding of the deposit will assist us in better targeting subsequent
drill programs aimed at growing the resource at Goldlund, which remains open along strike to the northeast,
to the southwest and at depth.
Goldlund Regional Exploration Update
In June 2018, First Mining commenced a regional exploration diamond drilling campaign at Goldlund
designed to test the extension of the known mineralized trend approximately 10 kilometres ("km") northeast
of the mineralized material at the current resource area. The primary objective of this program was to verify
historical sampling and drilling results, outline new resources and demonstrate the potential of the
northeastern section of the Goldlund land package. The exploration drilling was focused on the Miller and
Eaglelund targets.
Miller Prospect Results
Step-out drilling at the Miller prospect, located 10 km to the northeast of the main Goldlund deposit, yielded
gold in a similar geological setting to the current resource area at Goldlund. Eight diamond drill holes at
Miller (1,256 m of drilling) all exhibited the Goldlund-style mineralization of quartz-carbonate-pyrite-gold
stockwork in a granodiorite dike. The Company has previously released the results for these eight drill holes
at the Miller prospect (for a comprehensive summary of these drill results, please refer to the Company's
news releases dated August 20, 2018 and September 20, 2018).
Highlights of the Miller drill campaign included 108 m of 2.43 g/t Au, and 31.0 m of 4.54 g/t Au in hole
MI-18-002; 48.0 m of 1.17 g/t Au in hole MI -18-003; and 49 m of 2.58 g/t Au in MI -18-007,
including 21.5 m at 5.54 g/t Au. The frequency of occurrence of visible gold ("VG") at Miller was much
greater than encountered in the Goldlund infill holes, with VG observed in seven out of the total eight holes
drilled in this program.
Final results for all Miller holes are presented below in Table 2, and include all results of metallic screen
fire assays which were rerun on selected samples, some of which st ill had pending assays at the time of
First Mining's last news release on Goldlund in September 2018.
Table 2: Final 2018 Drill Results from the Miller Prospect
Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) 3
MI-18-001
MI-18-001 7.00 114.6 107.60 0.42
inc 15.00 88.6 73.60 0.55
inc 16.00 18.3 2.30 2.01
and inc 18.00 18.3 0.30 9.15
and inc 23.30 29.6 6.30 2.01
and inc 27.30 27.6 0.30 32.12
and inc 77.60 88.6 11.00 1.43
and inc 87.60 88.6 1.00 9.09
MI-18-002
MI-18-002 0.42 142.5 142.08 1.90
inc 1.50 109.5 108.00 2.43
and inc 57.50 88.5 31.00 4.54
and inc 75.50 82.5 7.00 14.66
and inc 81.50 82.5 1.00 88.80
and inc 102.50 109.5 7.00 9.61
and inc 108.50 109.5 1.00 54.47
MI-18-003
MI-18-003 69.00 72.0 3.00 1.19
and 90.00 138.0 48.00 1.17
inc 90.00 90.5 0.50 16.10
and inc 94.00 97.5 3.50 2.42
and inc 105.00 106.0 1.00 3.90
and inc 115.00 130.0 15.00 1.70
and inc 125.00 125.5 0.50 19.10
and inc 137.70 138.0 0.30 11.80
MI-18-004
MI-18-004 34.00 57.8 23.80 0.54
inc 34.00 35.0 1.00 2.56
and inc 52.00 57.8 5.80 1.40
and inc 55.00 56.0 1.00 6.12
MI-18-005
MI-18-005 46.00 47.0 1.00 4.18
and 68.00 78.0 10.00 0.45
and inc 72.00 74.0 2.00 1.25
and 109.00 110.0 1.00 1.00
MI-18-006
MI-18-006 76.00 77.0 1.00 1.38
and 102.00 124.0 22.00 0.70
inc 103.00 109.4 6.40 2.15
and inc 103.62 104.0 0.38 20.80
and inc 109.00 109.4 0.40 5.37
and 145.00 147.0 2.00 1.48
and 169.00 170.0 1.00 3.01
MI-18-007
MI-18-007 66.00 69.0 3.00 4.24
inc 66.00 67.0 1.00 9.16
and 89.00 138.0 49.00 2.58
inc 94.50 116.0 21.50 5.54
and inc 107.50 109.0 1.50 9.17
and inc 114.00 115.0 1.00 94.60
MI-18-008
MI-18-008 135.00 149.0 14.00 0.63
inc 135.50 138.0 2.5.0 1.85
and inc 146.00 147.0 1.00 2.14
Notes:
1. Assaying for the Miller drill program was done by SGS at their laboratories in Red Lake,
Cochrane and Lakefield, Ontario. Prepared samples were analyzed for gold by lead fusion fire
assay with an atomic absorption spectrometry (''AAS'') finish. Multi-element analysis was also
undertaken by two-acid aqua regia digestion with ICP-MS and AES finish.
2. Reported widths are drilled core lengths; true widths are unknown at this time. Assay values are
uncut.
3. Au values in bold text contain results of metallic screen fire assay reruns.
The Miller prospect is along strike and contains the same volcanic-intrusive stratigraphy as Goldlund, and
thus opens up a 10 km long priority exploration corridor between the current resource area at Goldlund
and the Miller prospect, as shown in Figure 1 below. See Figure 2 below for a cross-section of the Miller
prospect. None of the drill results from the Miller prospect were incorporated into the updated mineral
resource estimate for Goldlund. Step out and infill drilling at Miller is a priority work program in 2019
with a goal of establishing an initial resource.
Figure 1. Priority Exploration Corridor at Goldlund
Figure 2. Cross-Section through the Miller Prospect, Looking Northeast
Eaglelund Prospect Drill Results
In addition to the drilling at the Miller prospect, First Mining also completed a further seven diamond drill
holes at the Eaglelund prospect (638 m of drilling), and one diamond drill hole comprising 50 m of drilling
at the Miles prospect (see Figure 3 and Table 4 for locations), and the results of this drilling are presente d
in Table 3 below.
The holes at Eaglelund and Miles were targeted close to the locations of historical drill holes that were first
drilled in the 1950s and 1980s, several of which reported gold mineralization (although locations and assay
results for these holes cannot be verified). Some narrow gold intersections were encountered in this latest
drilling, notably in the south west region of the Eaglelund target, with hole EL -18-002 intersecting 1.0 m