First Mining Gold Corp. (TSX:FF) (OTCQX:FFMGF)
(FRANKFURT:FMG)
(“First Mining” or the
“Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into
a Voluntary Agreement (“VA”) with the Ministry of the Environment
and Climate Change in Ontario (the “MOECC”) to complete certain
requirements under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act (the
“EAA”). This marks the commencement of a Provincial
Individual Environmental Assessment (“Provincial EA”) for the
Company’s Springpole Gold Project (“Springpole” or the “Project”),
located in northwestern Ontario.
Jeff Swinoga, President & Chief Executive
Officer of First Mining, stated “We believe Springpole has the
potential to become one of Canada’s largest producing gold mines.
With permitting for an access road to the Project site now
well underway and having already commenced the Federal
Environmental Assessment process, we are very pleased to initiate
the Provincial Environmental Assessment process in Ontario.
Both EAs can now progress simultaneously. These two EA
processes mark the first major steps toward permitting
Springpole. Our very experienced team, with our values-based
culture, looks forward to working diligently and respectfully with
all Indigenous and other stakeholders throughout the Federal and
Provincial EA processes.”
First Mining will now prepare the Provincial EA
to satisfy the EAA requirements for all components of the Project
that are subject to the EAA under the VA. The first step of
the process is to prepare the Terms of Reference (“ToR”) for the
Provincial EA for Springpole. The ToR will describe the scope
of the EA and how First Mining intends to undertake all aspects of
the Provincial EA, including consultation efforts with Indigenous
communities and all other stakeholders.
If approved by the MOECC, the ToR will set out
First Mining’s framework and work plan for addressing the EAA
requirements including the alternatives that will be considered,
the environmental aspects that could be impacted by the Project,
and the Indigenous and other stakeholder consultation activities
that will be carried out during the process.
As previously announced by the Company on March
7, 2018, First Mining commenced the Federal EA process last month
when its Project Description for Springpole was submitted to, and
subsequently accepted by, the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Agency (the “Agency”). The Agency has posted a summary of the
Project Description on the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Registry Internet Site (“CEARIS”) at
http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/document-eng.cfm?document=121863.
The Agency has determined that a Federal EA is required for
Springpole, and has issued a “Notice of Determination” on the
Registry site. The Agency will now prepare draft
Environmental Impact Statement Guidelines (“EIS Guidelines”) for
the Project and post these for public comment. Final EIS
Guidelines will be issued following the expiry of the public
comment period.
First Mining will continue to work with both the
Agency and the MOECC to refine, as appropriate, a path forward to
address both Federal and Provincial EA requirements, which will
align with the Federal EIS Guidelines (once these have been
approved by the Agency) and the Provincial ToR (once these have
been approved by the MOECC). In addition, the Company plans
to make every reasonable attempt to coordinate key milestone
consultation activities and maximize opportunities for Indigenous
groups and all other stakeholders to be effectively engaged.
The Company expects to coordinate the submission of Federal and
Provincial EIS/EA reports to the extent possible and practical in
order to minimize duplication and increase efficiency during the
two EA processes.
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 with a
focus on gold.
For further information, please contact:
Derek Iwanaka Vice President Investor Relations Toll-Free:
1-844-306-8827 Email: info@firstmininggold.com Website:
www.firstmininggold.com
ON BEHALF OF FIRST MINING GOLD CORP.
“Keith Neumeyer”
Keith NeumeyerChairman
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 issuance by the Agency of the EIS Guidelines after the
completion of the Review Period; (ii) the commencement of the
federal EA process; (iii) the Springpole Project being posted on
CEARIS and the availability of EA-related documents on such site;
(iv) continued consultation efforts with Indigenous communities,
and with local municipalities, government agencies and
non-governmental organizations, and the outcome of such
consultation efforts; and (v) the preparation of ToR for a
provincial EA and their submission to MOECC. 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. The most
significant assumptions are set forth above, but generally these
assumptions include: (i) the successful completion of the federal
and provincial EA processes; (ii) the success of consultations with
Indigenous communities, and with local municipalities, government
agencies and non-governmental organizations; and (iii) no material
issues being raised during the permitting phase of the Springpole
Project. Although the Company’s management considers these
assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently
available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements
involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and
specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections
and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that
assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution
readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual
outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates assumptions and intentions
expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk
factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions
and estimates expressed above do not occur as forecast, but
specifically include, without limitation: (i) risks relating to any
material issues that may be identified during the federal or
provincial EA process; (ii) risks relating to consultation efforts
with various stakeholders; (iii) general risks related to
permitting activities; (iv) developments in world metals markets;
(v) risks relating to fluctuations in the Canadian dollar relative
to the US dollar; (vi) management’s discretion to refocus the
Company’s exploration efforts and/or alter the Company’s short and
long term business plans; and (vii) the additional risks described
in First Mining's Annual Information Form for the year ended
December 31, 2016 filed with the Canadian securities regulatory
authorities under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, and
in First Mining’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. 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.
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