First Minings Year in Review

0:08 Hello everyone and welcome to 1st Mining Goals Live Investor Summit hosted by 6. I'm pleased to introduce the CEO and Director, Dan Wilton, who's going to be going over a short presentation and afterwards we're going to be entering into a live Q&A session. You have any questions, please ask in the Q&A chat on the right hand side of your screen at any time. And as always, this event is being recorded and will be available on demand on six.com in the coming days. Without further ado, Dan, I wanna hand things over to you to get us started. Dan, thank you very much. And good to see you as always. And great to see

0:39 such a great number of our shareholders and supporters turning out for what I hope will be a brief but fruitful year-end discussion here. Lots to talk about, and we just thought we'd take the opportunity to make sure we can connect with the shareholders one more time as we're kind of getting into the tail end of the year here and make sure everyone has their eyes focused on what we think is going to be a really, really impactful and meaningful 2023 here. So I'm going to be making a few forward-looking statements, but the goal here is we'll just have 10 or 15 minutes of quick overview and in the presentation and then get right to Q&A would be our intent. So let's get right into it here. One of the things we wanna make sure that we're highlighting, we're kind of going through our budgeting work right now and really having a look at getting our game plan set up for 2023.

1:42 So we've had a chance really to reflect on, you know, what we've achieved in 2022 and had a great session with all of our senior leadership team here in Vancouver, really in a room for the first time ever in 1 room over the course of the last week. And I think just very excited about the amount of collaboration we've all been able to bring to really achieving some of these milestones this year. And as we reflect on it, some of the really important ones that we have here are the fact that we published the draft environmental assessment report for Springpole. I'm sure a few of you have seen the pictures of it, but this is a 10,000-page, multi-volume document that took really the better part of a couple of years to pull together. So it really is a testament to the hard work of our team and the team at Wood, who are now WSP, who have helped us bring that together.

2:42 And all of the subject matter experts that contributed into that environmental assessment. You know, just getting to that point is a real milestone. So with that, we published that document in May, and we've now, it's currently in review by regulators, both federal and provincial, and from local and Indigenous communities. We've received, I think, all of the first round of comments back from the regulators so far, which, you know, I think we're diligently kind of working through on a back and forth. But I think one of the other things that was really important this year on the environment front was the completion of a really robust field season that's supporting the information requirements for what is still ongoing work and us making sure that we are crafting the best project that we can.

3:37 And there's still a number of steps for us to go through here, but don't want to minimise for us the significance of getting to this point where we have a project described and now really kind of in that review process. And I'd dovetail that in with the fact that in 2022, we did publish our inaugural 1st mining ESG report that's on our website. Again, a lot of work that came into pulling together all of the information on that ESG report. And I think, you know, a few of you have heard me say this before, We're in the business of ESG, right? Our business is in moving projects forward, in studying the environment, and in working with our local communities. And that's something that I think getting this inaugural ESG report pulled together really helped us highlight where we have been doing a good job and where we can do better. But a couple of things that I'm very proud of for this company, number 1 is, you know, it demonstrated to us that we have in 1st mining, more than 20% of our workforce is Indigenous.

4:52 And that's been a steadily increasing number for us over the last couple of years. And we certainly are aiming to continue to increase that number. I think it also pointed to us that we could do a better job of buying locally, sourcing locally and working with suppliers in our region and particularly suppliers that are connected to our Indigenous communities. So that's something that we're working hard at and still learning a lot in going through, but really a focus for the company moving forward on the ESG front. And I think when I think about one of the most impactful things we were able to do this year was to consolidate our ownership of the DuParcay project in Quebec.

5:39 The fact that we were able to add a second multi-million ounce flagship asset to the portfolio, increased our mineral resources, as echoed by the mineral resource estimate that we put out in September of 2022, increased our overall resources by about 40%, significant increase in our measured and indicated resources as well. The more that we get into DuParcay and the more that we are starting to understand all the work that's happened before, starting to understand the geology, I think we're just getting more and more excited about the path forward there. I think some really interesting things to come that we'll talk about in 2023 on DuParcay.

6:29 One of the other things, obviously, as we announced yesterday and delighted to have been able to announce, really, I think, importantly for us, a demonstration of the value of some of the assets that we have in the portfolio. And that's something that we've been talking about for a long time, but I think it's never been more clear to us than when we've been able to announce that we're selling one of our 21 royalties for 9.5 million Canadian dollars, which is a significant amount of funding that we would need to go forward for next year's programs. And I think it just goes to highlight and demonstrate that not just in the royalties, but in our project interests, in our share positions, You know, we have the value of the portfolio of assets beyond Springpole and DuParquet and Cameron, the 100% owned projects that we're moving forward. It really is, I think, an enormous value in those projects that we are going to be able to move forward. And we'll talk a little bit about some of the milestones that our partners have been able to achieve over this past

7:37 year, because I think that really does help to underpin that value of the rest of the assets we have in the portfolio. So able to do this and basically replace the cash that we had put out in the acquisition of DuParcay with non dilutive to equity financing, I think was something that we're very proud to have been able to announce and hopefully have that closed before the end of the year, which is the intention. And on top of that, it raised flow-through financing to advance our exploration programs. And already starting to progress some exploration work in the Bertucci Greenstone Belt. Importantly, we've completed a regional, the first real regional airborne district scale geophysical program and regional soil and geochemical sampling that have given us, I think, a really strong foundation to start doing more exploration work in the Bertucci and around Springpole going forward.

8:39 So some of that foundational work getting done I think was really important for us. So with these things, it points to I think a pretty solid year of activity that we've had here around 1st Mining Gold, even though, as it turns out, our share price is certainly not reflecting that right now. We talk about the value of the other assets that we have and we just wanted to highlight a couple of things in case some of the shareholders are not really following day-to-day what's happening with some of our partnership assets. I think this just goes to underpin what we think is real financial flexibility going forward. And where we have all of these other assets in the portfolio, be they the share positions, be they the project interests, be they the royalties that are things that we can monetize to be able to keep ourselves well funded without having to take a lot more equity dilution. You know, I think you look at our 30% interest in Pickle Crow, our partner Ateco has done an amazing job of continuing to grow that resource. They've grown it from about 1Moz to now 2.23Moz

9:52 over the course of a couple of years. They've drilled, I think, almost 150,000m at Pickle Crow over the last 2.5-years. They've raised, in this year, raised another 20 million in equity to continue an aggressive exploration campaign and expanding the resource. But up until this point, they've been really quite limited in where they could do that work, because they've been working for a couple of years on getting an exploration agreement signed with Mishka Gogoming First Nation, who are one of the communities that we're in discussions with around Springpole as well, and a community that we've had the privilege of going to visit in 2022. But very happy that our partners at Ateco were able to get that exploration agreement over the line.

10:44 So Still in the middle of a 50,000m drill campaign, they produced some exceptional high-grade intersections outside of the current resource, which is all leading toward a resource update with Ateco coming in 2023.

11:02 But some real exceptional gradients. Not very often you see more than 1,000 grams in assays at gold projects, and Ateco had one of those just a little bit more than a month ago. So we're very excited for the trajectory at Pickle Crow. You know, what we love about our position there is that our equity interest is carried through to a construction decision on a mine. So Ateco continues to do great work and we're going to support them in doing that work, but we don't have to support them financially at this point, which we're, you know, I think we're in a good position as 1st mining shareholders. Big Ridge Gold at the Hope Brook project, again, they've earned, we have a 49% interest in the project right now. Big Ridge has spent $10 million to earn up to that 51% completed a phase 1 drill program of about 25,000 meters. Most of those results are in but. Really testing some extensions and other areas kind of in between a couple of the existing resource areas at Hope Brook to demonstrate where they think they can see some resource expansion.

12:10 So they've commissioned a new resource to be put out in 2023 again. You know, I think that's going to grow and demonstrate the robustness of that project at Hope Brook. So we're excited to see that. And then at Treasury Metals, we're very thankful of our partners at Treasury, who their great work is in large part what was very important to allow us to realize the value that we did on selling the Goldlund Royalty. So, I've raised US$20 million in a royalty package with Sprott Royalty and Streaming, it's the same group that's acquiring our Goldland royalty. But there's been an enormous amount of work done there, including having made 2 new discoveries in between Goldland and Miller in the northern part of the Goldland property package. And we think that's really just the beginning, some really exciting exploration targets there.

13:09 And moving forward toward a construction decision as they're targeting, I think at the end of 2023 as they move forward their Pre-Feasibility Study, which I think should be out sometime in the first quarter of 2023. So lots of great work done at our partners. But again, that really for us just goes to underpin the value of what is sitting in the portfolio of other assets beyond our main mineral properties. So as we look ahead to 2023, big plans for 1st Mining Gold moving forward, certainly advancing the environmental assessment at Springpole. We're working right now back and forth to address the comments received from the regulatory agencies

14:00 and indigenous communities, and we'll continue to support the communities in their review of the environmental assessment and of the project. We're advancing the Spring-Pole Engineering to Feasibility Stage. There's a large part of that work that has already been done. Part of it is we're, as you see from the PFS that we did in 2021 to the project as it's scoped for the environmental assessment, there's been a couple of important changes in scope. So I think it is gonna be important for us to be able to demonstrate the economics of the project that we're taking into the final environmental assessment. But I think that's, you know, moving forward there, a bunch of those disciplines, be it in metallurgy, be it in mining, be it in the resource, that are being completed or are completed to feasibility levels. So slowly working away at that process as well.

14:56 We're very excited to roll up our sleeves and get at an exploration and development program at DuParquet. So we're right now just in the process of scoping an exploration program, applying for exploration permits, and in a real process of engagement with government ministries, with the local communities and the indigenous communities in the area to really help scope out how we take DuParquet forward. There's some really interesting work that we are going to see there, both on the environmental side, on the establishing environmental baseline side, on managing and better understanding some of the environmental legacy that's at DuParquet.

15:42 But importantly,

15:45 We've spent a bit of time at DuParcay over the course of the last few months. We get to see and understand the mineral resource that we have there. Some of the intersections that they have at this project are very, very exciting. The kind of thing that if you saw them as a new exploration hit today, this would brand it as, I think, one of the most exciting exploration projects in Quebec or in Canada. Really significant intersections already underlying what we have as a very meaningful resource in Quebec. Putting some definition around that and advancing that, scoping out economic mine development scenarios, really targeting a PEA in Quebec in 2023 around DuParcay, which I think will give us a good starting sense of a scope, timeframe and game plan for moving that to a development decision as well. Then ultimately, we'd really like to be doing more work

16:48 at Springpool on the exploration side and the Bertucci Greenstone Belt. So really leveraging that foundational work on not just the geophysics, but the actual mapping, sampling, structural work that our team has done to really lay out the Bertucci Greenstone Belt is I think one of the most exciting greenfields exploration opportunities in Canada. And then for us, obviously continue to explore the opportunity to monetize some non-core assets to keep us well-funded moving forward at SpringPool and DuParquet. So really leveraging a bunch of the value that we have in the assets and obviously, you know, we've demonstrated I think this week that there is some real value hidden inside the portfolio assets here at 1st Mining.

17:40 That to us, I think, opens up a broad opportunity here. I just want to finish with a couple of snapshots really on kind of the value and where we are, just to anchor it in everyone's mind coming out of 2022 and into 2023. You know, we were sitting today at about CAD$160M market cap. That CAD$6.6M of cash on hand is obviously going to be augmented with the finishing of the or the closing of the sale of the GoldLund Royalty. But between the future cash and share payments, the value of our joint venture interests, our marketable securities, and then the other assets like the royalties, you can see we are sitting really well-funded here to move forward.

18:31 And let us not lose sight of the fact of the quality of assets that we have. And one of the things that we're the most excited about, when we're in a gold environment like we're in now, where it really feels like we've seen the turn in the Gold price. You know, it's up from 1600 to over $1,800 today. And you can see these projects on this page. These are the largest undeveloped or being developed Gold projects in Canada. You know, we've got 2 of the top 15 today. You fast-forward 3-years for the projects that are in construction and we're going to have 2 of the top 10 Gold projects in Canada.

19:11 I think it leaves us in a really, really unique position as a project developer coming into an up part of the cycle where we have such leverage to the valuation and leverage to the ounces of Gold that we have. So, You can see right here, still trading at very low values. I think the opportunity in 2023, as we continue to move SpringPool forward, we demonstrate the economics around DuParcay, is to grow that net asset value, because I think we're going to be able to do that just with the quality of projects that we have and being able to demonstrate some project economics at DuParcay.

19:57 Then from that, start closing that valuation gap as our projects just keep advancing through the EA process and through technical studies towards that construction decision. So with all that, I see a lot of questions that have come in here. And I think it could be time for us now to maybe just turn off the presentation part of that and we'll move right to some questions. Absolutely Dan, and Just as a reminder to everyone, if you do have questions, please submit them in the Q&A chat found on the right hand side of your screen as opposed to the regular public chat. But first question for you, Dan, are the other worldies that you have going to be sold separately too?

20:46 I can see it's Tase that's asked the question. And so one of our great, loyal and super engaged shareholders who actually had the opportunity to meet in person only a short month ago. And it's a great question, and I think for us it really does come down to how do we get the most value for the remaining royalties? You know, the fact is we're sitting on a package of 20 royalties, a couple of which are at advanced stages. And I don't think there are any that are closer to a development decision than we had at Goldlund. But certainly, when you look at the ounce exposure, Pickle Crow is at least the same ounce exposure in an area of exceptional infrastructure that we have at Goldline. So, you know, I think we'll explore all the options for it if we can.

21:46 But I think that's, you know, an important part of how we're going to keep ourselves well-funded here in 2023. Right. OK. Stefan has a question. First, he congratulates you on the great job in 2022. But even despite all that good news, it wasn't necessarily followed by a rising stock. So what are your future drivers and is 1st mining a potential M&A target? Thanks, Stefan. We think about this all the time and thank you for the recognition of 2022. Rest assured that there is no 1 who is as frustrated or more frustrated with the lack of movement of the share price than me. Actually, the only person who's more frustrated than me is Keith.

22:34 You can rest assured that Keith lets me know that all the time. He and I are both backing that with our own dollars. He is continuing to buy shares in the market. I bought another 300,000-ish shares in one of our financings

22:57 in August, September. So You do have a management team that's very, very well aligned with that. But in terms of catalysts that we're going to see, I mean, first and foremost, I think we are going to see the gold market turn. And it feels like it already has. I think if you look back in prior cycles, when the gold price starts to take off, it first gets felt in the producers who tend to have the most immediate leverage because they are selling gold and it translates into near-term cash flow. Then from the producers, it will tend to then, as they get priced up, and they're still a long way from being at historical high valuations. So I think there's still some room for the producers to run. We've seen the ongoing consolidation that continues to happen in the production space, the latest that's pretty interesting for us is Yamana and Agnico.

23:59 When that deal closes, we are going to be sitting on pretty much the largest undeveloped Gold project not owned by Agnico in the Abitibi, top 3 anyway. So we're pretty excited about that. But that consolidation happens there. We haven't been at the point where producing companies are starting to get rewarded for having development pipelines. And we haven't really been in that part of the market since, It feels like since 2011, to be honest. A few brief blips, but gold companies haven't been rewarded for growth in 10 years, and so they haven't really been aggressively pursuing growth. That time will come. And I think when you look at that chart that I'd showed earlier with the top development projects in Canada, I think you can consistently see that the bigger, really meaningful strategic projects are the ones that will attract strategic interest at that time of the cycle. It was 1st mining an M&A candidate.

25:07 It doesn't, at this point, keep me up at night. I think, absolutely, We have a pipeline that is good enough and big enough for the largest gold companies in the world. When it comes time for you get closer to that construction decision, as we keep really advancing the fundamental value of the company and the projects, I think that's when it will turn very quickly. I can point you to a couple of episodes in my career where that turn has come in 6 months with share prices that have gone up 4 and 5 X. So I think that is entirely possible with what we're doing here at 1st Mining when the industry starts to turn and that turn can happen very quickly and feels like it has already happened in the Gold Price.

26:02 Right. Okay. Fair enough. James wants to know if you've heard anything about the Canadian government reducing the time needed for permitting mining operations, and if that could possibly affect your timeline on the Springpole project. James, that's a great question. We are very closely paying attention to this. It turns out that the Minister of Natural Resources who was talking about the great cutting of red tape happens to be my member of parliament for my area that I live in, North Vancouver. I haven't sat down with him, but I intend to in 2023 as a bit of a New Year's resolution. Ultimately, what they are trying to do is streamline the federal and provincial permitting regimes and environmental assessment regimes such that a company really only has to go through 1 assessment.

26:54 Now, I remain very optimistic that they can do that, but I think the only way that happens is the federal government is going to kind of reduce its scope of involvement. And I hope that there is an avenue for better federal and provincial collaboration. And I'll remain optimistic that that's something that can be achieved in the near term here. I think for us, where we are in the process, that would be more impactful for someone starting, you know, where we were in 2017 or 2018, you know, prior to submitting your initial, your initial project description. Where we are with SpringPoll particularly, right now is very advanced in that process.

27:41 And actually we do have good collaboration in the timelines between federal and provincial agencies. So from our perspective, it's actually working really well, but where this could have more of an impact would be in something like DuParquet, for example, which might be entering that process over the course of the next year or 2, where you have more defined timeframes for decisions. The single biggest thing that would impact the timing of permitting mines in Canada is reducing the timeframe between environmental assessment and receiving all of your permits to start constructing. A lot of that happens because there's a bunch of things that just don't happen in parallel that could happen in parallel.

28:30 I think where we have some ability to raise some of these issues with our regulators, who again, I will tell you right now, we have had great support from the regulators in Ontario, great support from our regulators in Quebec and great support from our federal regulators. So don't take this as anything other than the fact that I think we're having a really good experience, but a lot of this does just take time. But the other interesting part of that is on the topic of critical minerals, which we're looking at very closely. That's really what they're trying to streamline as a pathway to critical minerals. There are a number of opportunities that we have at Springpole and at DuParcay, understanding those ore bodies better to understand where there may be significant potential byproducts of critical minerals that I think can make these projects even more strategically important than they are today.

29:33 Okay, I'm gonna actually combine the next 2 questions just a little bit here. You know, Sally says, makes a comment that, you know, it looks like 2023 is gonna be busy, busy, busy. But how are you going to create value for shareholders? How are you going to move the stock as opposed to deliver a similar report next year? You know, listen, Sally, I certainly understand and appreciate that. I think, you know, our job is to deliver the value. It's a little more difficult for us to necessarily deliver the share price. The share price, I think, what we can do is make sure that we are out telling our story, make sure that we have, you know, a good set of news flow that is going to support that story, make sure that we are undertaking the activities that really underpin and cement that fundamental value and bring the attention of other investors, potentially increasing an institutional shareholder base, which is small but growing in where we are now, and potentially, as we've talked about in a number of these forums, attracting that strategic investor that can bring a bit of an external stamp of credibility on the development activities that we have at Springpole

31:04 and DuParcay. So, I think we have all of the foundation to be able to not just demonstrate and underpin the value of the projects that we have, but to continue to add to that. That's where us starting to do some exploration is really, really important. I think that's where, when you demonstrate that the Bertucci Greenstone Belt outside of Springpole, or even some of the near mine exploration at Springpole takes that project from 5 to 678 million ounces. Every one of those incremental ounces isn't going to show up in an NPV in a mine plan today, but what it does is it really adds to the strategic value of this project.

31:55 And it's that strategic value that when we get into an environment where we're able to start having better, better valuation metrics for developers and we can start closing that gap. We systematically remove the reasons that people don't invest. And I think as we keep doing that, we're in a, we call it a 2 to 3 year timeframe here through environmental assessment, the environmental assessment process and environmental assessment approvals where we can deliver tangible milestones that show that we are taking risk out of these projects. We can deliver exploration results that are going to show that we can grow these projects and ultimately continue to move the projects forward on that front. I think that's where we are going to see the share price rise. So, I totally understand the frustration and again, you can rest assured that those of us who are moving the company forward here absolutely share that frustration.

33:01 Fair enough. I'm going to combine the next 2 questions as well from Steve and John. Just if you could provide a brief overview of the company's plans for exploration in 2023, maybe talk a little about your feelings on having sufficient funds to explore in a meaningful way. Right. So, you know, we're looking forward to being able to talk a bit more about the work that we've done. We're just, we're finalizing some of, just some of the details and results of the exploration, really foundational exploration work we've done in the Bertucci Greenstone Belt this year. And, you know, I think what that's done has identified a number of targets close to Springpole and a number of targets in the region that we think have million ounce or multi-million ounce exploration potential.

33:56 So I would frame each one of these opportunities and we'll talk more about them. We'll talk more about them in the, sort of as we get the, you know, the compilation and the game plan really set. So I'll leave this just as a bit of a teaser, but you know, I think each of the areas in the district around some of the existing work that we have. When you layer onto that some of the really amazing work that's come, the foundational work that's come out of structural analysis and some of the mapping and sampling, the geophysical programs, the geochem programs that our team has done over this year. I think it actually, each one of these kind of sub areas in the Bertucci should be a company with a market cap of the size of 1st Mining Pool.

34:45 And when we, not too long from now, we will be able to talk a bit more about what are the game plans to be able to move those forward. You know, I think it's really primarily in the Bertucci about still reasonably early stage testing of a number of different targets. And I think in those targets, we'll start demonstrating an understanding of some of the district scale controls and really kind of vectoring in on what could be really exciting exploration discoveries. I think that's certainly on the Bertucci side. On the DuParquet side, We're very excited with some of the exploration opportunities that we have there.

35:37 Most of the deposits that we have, we have the Beattie Mine, the Donchester Mine, Central DuParquet, Dumico, some of the smaller pits that were in the original Clifton Star pre-feasibility study, but a lot of those projects are not closed off by drilling at all. They are open along strike, they're open down dip, and a lot of them are open at depth. So, actually all of them are open at depth. In an environment where in the Abitibi, the conventional wisdom is the real mines tend to start at about 1,000m down, we only have a handful of drill holes below 500m, which was where these deposits were mined, certainly in the case of BD in the 30s to the 50s.

36:22 So really interesting exploration upside, I think, to be able to find far more mineralisation and demonstrate really what the depth and the growth potential of these projects can be. Now, I think that goes on top of us being able to also, at DuParcay, and we've talked about this a little bit, but demonstrate that there is a very robust, call it starter scenario there, that could really get 1 into production on a smaller scale than we talk about starting at at SpringPool, which gives a very different complexion to the opportunity to do parquet. So again, a big part of that is us getting the PEA done in 2023, just demonstrating, you know, what a game plan might look like, and then moving that through its paces of technical studies.

37:19 And Steve, in terms of staying funded for moving the exploration forward, we were able to raise some good flow-through funding in August of this year to really get some of that foundational work done. And we do have good support from a couple of our investors who are, you know, flow through funds, who've been very supportive, and I think great financing partners for us. So, you know, I think our goal is also to take that step by step. And, you know, I think we are going to need to demonstrate success before we're able to raise larger amounts of money to continue to pursue the exploration. But, you know, I do think it's strategically important that we're able to do it.

38:04 No, absolutely. Oh, and you just touched on it actually briefly, but John was wondering how long it would take to begin mining the DuParcay starter pit, as you call it, that you've spoken of in the past. We're a ways away yet. I think the game plan at DuParcay really starts with understanding the environment situation. We've got some interesting work that's being done right now on a couple of different fronts about potential to help manage that environmental legacy. But ultimately, we really lean heavily on Steve Lines' experience and our team's experience at the Hard Rock Project, which was very similar to DuParcay in terms of a historical mine, some environmental legacy, and ultimately tying that development plan to an overall environmental mitigation plan.

39:03 I think the 2 really do go hand in hand, particularly at DuParcay where you've got 4Mt of tailings sitting at 0 strip ratio, sitting at surface, the grade 0.9 Gold and some Silver component in there as well. So you know, I think we've still got some real work to do. And part of us doing this PEA is really starting to understand and scope out what the path is to go forward at DuPortier. Because I think we've had great reception from our interactions with the municipality. And I think everyone wants to see the same thing happen, which is sort of a joint program that is some of that environmental risk mitigation and really, really robust economic development. So I think if we ask me that question 6 months from now, I think we'll have a better plan on the on the time frame to move it forward. All right, I'll set a reminder.

40:08 John has another question, and it's just if there's been any interest or conversations with other parties concerning JV deals or partnerships. Well, thanks, John. And we're having these discussions all the time. A big part of our role in talking about 1st mining gold is not just to investors, but also to the industry. And I think, you know, there's nothing concrete, anything that, you know, is really far down the track. Obviously, even if there was, we wouldn't be able to talk about it. But I do think it is, you know, these are continuing and ongoing discussions.

40:54 And the one thing that I'm optimistic for in 2023 is that the tone of those discussions is gonna change a bit. And I think the tone of that discussion changes as you move it, move the projects closer to realization. So SpringPool, I think, you know, with the environmental assessment there, and as we continue to demonstrate that we're taking risk out of the project, I think we'd continue to demonstrate that that timeframe to a construction decision, we're making progress on. I think that's the nature of those conversations can start to change. And as I said before, sometimes the nature of those conversations can change very quickly. So we'll continue to, as we've always talked about, continue to really assess all options for how some of the projects might be moved forward and certainly important parts of that might be JVs or strategic investors.

41:54 All right. How much cash is the company going to have on hand at year end and after the golden royalty transaction closes? Still finalizing that number. If we use, it'll be a little bit less than the 6.6 that we had. We have monetized a few of our marketable securities as well. So I take that 6.6, add 9.5, take off some transaction costs, and then some of the spend over the last couple of months. I'll be optimistic that number is going to be, you know, 13 to 14, but we're just finalizing those numbers, obviously, over the course of the next couple of weeks. Right. Richard wants to know what's happening with the 1st mining's largest stock holding, which according to him is Treasury Metals?

42:49 So listen, yeah, we are the largest shareholder of Treasury Metals. We currently own about 14% of the company. And right now we are sitting patiently waiting for Treasury to move forward through the pre-feasibility study that they're working on and demonstrate some of the advancement on timing toward their construction decision, which they're engaged in a permitting process as well. You know, I think the next time Jeremy Wyeth, the CEO of Treasury has one of these types of webinars, it's a good question for him. And I'm not really in a position to answer that. But yeah, I think we want to see what the value catalysts look like here. I think Treasury is incredibly undervalued, not quite as much as 1st mining gold, I would say. But you know, they're trading at significant discounts. And you know, you recall when we put these companies together, it was the Treasury share price post consolidation was around a dollar.

43:52 I think that's still not fair value, but I think you get to a point where you demonstrate a robust project with its permits to be built. If the equity markets aren't solving that problem, I think the strategic markets will, in terms of that disconnect between a share price and fundamental value. So a couple of important milestones that Treasury needs to deliver on this year. And I think once we see those, there are gonna be a couple of logical points of exit for us and 1 is, we don't wanna be competing with Treasury for construction capital. And if we see values up in ranges that we think are more rational, then maybe we can consider exiting prior to construction. But if not, then it's probably after they've been able to raise the capital to build the mine.

44:44 So no, we don't have any timeframe. I think we have a good sense of where we think the fundamental value is, and that'll be the guide, really, for the timing of when we might be able to move forward. Right, OK, absolutely. What, if any, are the First Nations' concerns for Springpole? You know, I don't like using the term First Nations concerns. I think if I understand what you're saying, What are the concerns that the Indigenous communities around our projects would have with Spring Pool? When I first read the question, I said, what's 1st Mining's concerns around working with the indigenous communities in the area.

45:33 And I think, you know, we really just see opportunity in working with the indigenous communities around us, supporting them in their assessment of the project. But I'll tell you, one of the things that, you know, what I have a concern, I know it's a concern that's shared by the leadership of the communities is, you know, there, there really needs to be some thought put to sort of workforce preparedness in having community members trained and healthy in a position to really be able to take advantage of employment and contracting opportunities that are come with the development project of this scale.

46:21 So, I think it's something that we are really kind of putting our thoughts to right now and working with one of the communities around SpringPool in how do we work together and help even mobilize the industry toward recognizing that there is this challenge of workforce preparedness and that the communities need to be and community members need to be in a better position to really be able to benefit from this. So that's not something that we are gonna solve, but I think it's a conversation that we really wanna be part of. Absolutely. Warren wants to know, with the selling of the GoldLund NSR, what relationship does that 1st mining have with Sprott and could we see further opportunities with this company?

47:15 Well, our relationship with the Sprott Royalty and Streaming Company goes back a ways through the discussion of GoldLund, because they're obviously the ones who provided the $20 million US to Treasury for Goliath earlier this year, and kind of went through a robust process on that. But in my personal relationship with, certainly with Mike Harrison, one of the principals, goes back to the fact we worked together years and years ago in sort of 2004, 2005. So, you know, I would just say, in my experience, I've been involved in a number of royalty transactions in the past, both as an investor, as an advisor, and in ones that we've seeked to buy and sell at 1st Mining, or create and sell, and maybe buy royalties.

48:16 But Mike and his team have been an absolute pleasure to work with, and I think they, you know, they've been able to move pretty expeditiously through this process and, you know, certainly appreciate that. So no formal relationship, but I think still a good longstanding relationship that it's a group that we've had a great experience with. And I think the team at Treasure Metals would say the same thing. All right. Tim has a question. With interest rates where they are, could the cash on hand finance much of your salaries? That's an interesting question. I hadn't really thought about earning 5.5% in a GIC or something like that.

49:06 Yeah, it certainly will, it'll help. It's always nice to have a bit of a revenue line coming in, it's something we're not used to. But we really tend to manage the cash for risk mitigation rather than yield and upside. But I think it's an environment where you're able to actually achieve a small amount of return on those and you know, that extra, you know, 5 or $600,000 could probably help. So it's a very good thought, certainly appreciate that. Kate wants to know, when's the SpringPoll FS expected to be completed? So Kate, we are right now targeting completion of the Spring Poll feasibility study probably late 2024, which sounds like a long time out.

50:06 And I think the reason we'd look at a timing like that is that while we've got a bunch of the feasibility study work done now, there is some other data collection that we'd need to do to finalize some of the geotechnical analysis that is certainly good enough now that if we were to say decide to move forward with an updated pre-feasibility study, we could do that. But I think there is another sort of field season of data collection that with the cash that we have on hand right now, we're not robustly enough funded to do that this winter. And we don't really need the feasibility study until you get closer to the environmental assessment process, you know, have your final EA completed and having, you know, being in the middle of that final EA process. And we're targeting, you know, sort of first half of 2024 for ultimately submitting that final EA, but still have some process to go through before we really firm up that timing.

51:15 So I think that's to say we're considering what that economic update might look like, whether it's a PFS update or something like that. In 2023, I think we could get that pulled together reasonably quickly. But again, that final feasibility study, probably a lot closer, but just to match with the timing of the environmental assessment. Right. John wants to know if you have any comments on when the precious metals mining sector could begin to move higher? JOE MAHEUX-SHYNERTON, MD, PhD John, any day now. I think, honestly, as you said before, we're at this position where the Gold price has bounced off those lows of 1600 that we were at a couple of months ago.

52:07 And that I think is really starting to instill some conviction in particularly gold producers, and some investors starting to look at gold producers as very cheap. So, you know, if I look historically, I think that, you know, gold price run, it can sometimes take 3 to 6 months for the, if you're into a real bull run, and I'm saying if we're gonna push, you know, past 1900, 2000, up to some of the levels that I think the gold price could get to, and you know, we could spend another hour talking about interest rates and talking about the pivot and talking about inflation and my own personal view that I think everyone declaring victory on inflation right now is probably premature.

53:02 But what we're starting to feel is the real limits to central banks being able to raise interest rates. Because I think we're getting to a point where it's gonna bite. They feel like Maybe the recession is around the corner. But I think you need to challenge the assumption that if we hit a recession, that we're not gonna have inflation. And that's my biggest concern. And the inflation that we're seeing day to day here, the really crippling stuff for the economy is are they counting interest payments in their inflation? Because if they are, for a lot of people, interest payments are gonna start becoming unaffordable. Food prices are certainly a huge contributor in gapping up more than your average inflation number.

53:48 So I think you're going to see that those 2 things particularly manifest themselves in salary increases. And once you get in the cycle of wage push and inflation expectation, My view is the perfect storm for gold is you start going into the recession, and you're in a stagflation moment. I think we're not far from that right now. I will be surprised if we're not in that in Q1 or Q2 of next year, where you are really seeing GDP starting to pull back, But you're still going to have persistent inflation in the economy.

54:35 And that I think is, you know, you look at what happened in 1980 and gold prices and I think, you know, you get a sense of what kind of real push that could put in here. You know, I think it's That's where you could see the real parabolic move in gold, and that will accelerate a lot of the rest of this, because obviously the gold producers will start seeing free cash flows gap up even more than they are now. And listen, there's a really healthy level of free cash flow in the gold producer industry right now. That has to make its way into development of new capacity, which is fundamentally where the developers are. So As we've been saying for years, we just need to keep skating to where the puck's going to be, to borrow a phrase from Wayne Gretzky.

55:29 I think we're still completely on track for that right now, to have our projects advanced and de-risked at a time that the industry is going to need the most. That chart that I was showing of the largest projects in Canada, I think if you map on top of that state of advance, SpringPool is one of the first ones up after the current generation being built. So I think it leaves us feeling really positively about when we think that's going to turn. And when that gold price starts moving, then you get the rest of the generalist investors starting to pay attention. You're already seeing it come into mainstream media thoughts.

56:16 You're seeing it come into some investing highlights for 2023, because what this push is going to do is put gold as one of the best performing assets over the last year. And in all the year-end material you're going to see, as people start performance chasing gold, which they will, that's where you start seeing the interest start broadening out. And again, it'll hit the producers first, and then either probably first through the M&A market, and then through the flows of capital, we'll start coming down to the developers. Okay, well, Dan, I wanna thank you for such a great in-depth Q&A session, as well as your presentation at the beginning. I of course want to thank everyone in the audience for such great questions. We have even more questions that are unfortunately going to have to go unanswered today. We will be passing these along to the 1st Mining team to make sure that they can follow up with you afterwards. But Dan, before we wrap up, I want to pass things over to you for any closing remarks that you have. No, it's great. Listen, I just want to thank everyone for joining us today.

57:24 It's one of the great blessings that I count, you know, as I get toward the end of the year is the great blessing of the shareholders that we have here at 1st Mining Gold. Your level of engagement and enthusiasm, you know, we're absolutely blessed with a great group of shareholders and I just hope you all can understand and appreciate that we're working very, very, very hard to make your investments worth more than they are right now, and you have a team that's completely aligned with the goal of seeing that happen. So, thanks very much, and I hope everyone has an opportunity to relax and spend some time with loved ones over the holidays. And if anyone does have any other questions we didn't get to today, you'll know how to get to us at info at firstmininggold.com.

58:16 Most of you have Paul Morris's contacts as well and Paul will be reaching out to everyone on the webinar today. But thanks again so much, and happy holidays, and Merry Christmas, and all the best to what we hope is going to be a very prosperous and exciting 2023 for 1st mining gold.