First Mining plans largest drill program yet at Duparquet, Quebec

First Mining Gold Corp. [FF-TSX, FFMGF-OTCQX, FMG-Frankfurt] said it plans to complete 18,000 metres of exploration drilling this year at the Duparquet gold project, located in the Abitibi region of Quebec.  The 2025 drill program will be the largest exploration drill program undertaken by the company since acquiring full ownership of the project in 2022. The drill program will focus on advancing priority targets that are aligned to resource growth potential, which will further unlock, an important regional gold endowment supportive of future development optionality at the Duparquet project.

First Mining shares advanced on the news, rising 4.16% or $0.005 to 12.5 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 18.5 cents and 10.5 cents.

First Mining is a gold developer advancing two of the largest gold projects in Canada. They include the Springpole gold project in northwestern Ontario, where it has commenced a feasibility study and permitting activities are continuing with a draft environmental impact statement for the project published in June, 2022

The company also owns 100% of the Duparquet gold project after completing the acquisition of shares in Beattie Gold Mines which it did not already own as well as shares of two numbered companies.

Duparquet is a multi-million-ounce preliminary economic assessment stage development project located approximately 50 kilometres north of the city of Rouyn-Noranda. The Duparquet deposit contains an updated gold resource of 3.4 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated category, plus an additional 1.6 million ounces of inferred material.

Existing infrastructure at the project site includes paved provincial highways, from Rouyn-Noranda to the south and LaSarre to the north, plus direct access to Quebec’s hydroelectric power grid. The project is located in an area with a strong history of sustainable mining practises.

The planned drill program is built upon key target centres that the company has previously identified and significantly derisked, for an expansion of internal successes and recent discoveries, while also pursuing new regional exploration opportunities.

The company commenced its maiden drill program at Duparquet in May 2023. Over the past two years, First Mining has completed approximately 20,000 metres of exploration drilling combined with significant updated geoscience modelling and targeting.

First Mining was in the news recently when it closed a previously announce non-brokered private placement financing, raising approximately $10.8 million across two tranches of the offering.

Prior to the Duparquet acquisition, First Mining had previously assembled a resource base of 7.3 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated categories and 3.6 million ounces of gold in the inferred category in eastern Canada.

The company’s portfolio includes the Goldlund project, which covers 28,572 hectares and is located 60 kilometres northeast of Dryden Ontario. The property has been extensively explored and hosted an underground and open pit mine between 1982 and 1985.