As a quite large and longtime shareholder of FFMG, I want to bring my two cents here. I think Cat Lake as a community has suffered quite a bit in the last few years from all kinds of social / housing problems and most recently their only nursery also burned to the ground. If you read the recent articles about this community then I think we can all understand there is a lot of frustration built up in this community directed at the government of Ontario. When the road permit was granted, I think the Chief was just so overwhelmed by all of the other stuff on his desk he simply had to do a "time out" of sorts. First Mining seems to be on good terms with Cat Lake and I really got the feeling that Dan cares a lot about this community and wants to include them in the whole "approval process". The two spoke at the PDAC and I understand there is no hostility between them. Chief Wesley has also stated many times that his community is not at all against development on their lands, they just need the time to do their own assessment (which btw is funded by First Mining). The draft EA was already submitted some time ago and they have answered all of the questions that have come up. If you actually read the EA material on their website you can see they have done an enormous amount of work regarding all kinds of mitigation measures for the fish habitat, water treatment, wildlife protection etc. First Mining has also collaborated a lot with Cat Lake already regarding their community concerns, so it's not as if the company has completely ignored them, far from it. This is important for investors to keep in mind.
Regarding the "road issue", I think First Mining / Cat Lake / Government all have a very good opportunity here to come to an "win / win / win" type of situation. I find it quite hard to envision how a road network would be developed and funded without the mining projects also being approved. Many First Nations have suffered quite a bit from the warm winters which make the ice roads they depend upon for supplies / food quite dangerous to use. I would like to think that they too will realize that modern roads are simply a must if they are to survive/prosper in the future. Roads just make life so much more convenient and makes transportation of goods way cheaper than what they have now. The government of Ontario just signed infrastructure / road agreements with two First Nations with regards to the Ring of Fire development. I think there is good momentum now building for collaboration between the government and FNs. Mining Minister George Pirie even said he is aware of the situation with Cat Lake and First Mining and stated he has every bit of confidence it can be worked out. All of the parties are interested in the money this massive project generates because the reality here is that money is what will solve all of the problems Cat Lake faces. They could get new roads, new power lines, lots of well paying mining jobs, economic opportunities for local businesses, profit sharing agreements etc. I mean there is just so much economic upside here for the community if they get on board. The amount of money this mine will create will easily solve all future problems.
I have done my homework regarding all of the environmental questions that have come up from the draft EA and there really is nothing significant left which the company has not addressed. First Mining has a development plan that provides for a significant net improvement of fish habitat over the life of the project, water treatment plans are in place, studies about caribou, wolverine, aquatic life have been done, tailings management etc. There have been just so much work done here which investors don't really seem to understand. I really have zero doubts about this project getting the EA approval. I have followed other mining companies and their project developments for years and years and usually those projects which fail to be approved have some kind of "big red flag" already in the beginning. Nothing like this has come up with Springpole. The project itself is actually not at all difficult to build or manage, it's just simple engineering and physics. It has been done many times before in Canada, and in much bigger scopes. It's just that people get emotional about the deposit being in a lake etc. Springpole is actually quite a small project (despite its deposit size) in terms of its overall effects on the environment compared to other similar sized projects which have been developed.
It will all now come down to the negotiations. I think Dan and Steve are the perfect team to make this happen, I especially want to hear more from Steve after they are done submitting the final EA. This guy clearly knows his business when it comes to the whole approval process and my sense is that he will be a fantastic asset for the company in the current situation they are facing. Like I said, getting the EA approval is pretty much already baked into the cake. The government - as far as I see it - is already on board with this project simply because it will create so much tax revenues and jobs. What we need now is a community agreement in place which allows for the development of Springpole while also giving Cat Lake the promise of the extension of the road network to their reserve. Other potential revenue/profit sharing agreements could also be on the table for Cat Lake if they get on board here. This is all up to First Mining and Cat Lake to negotiate while the government supports both parties to come to an agreement. To back it all up you have Keith himself in the background supporting all parties here and he is putting his money where his mouth is. I find it very hard to believe Keith would be buying shares every month and aiming for 50m shares total (he has 30m now) if he had zero belief in this company being able to pull this off. Also, Dan has put a significant portion of his family's net worth in to this company. Would he really gamble his family's wealth on a long shot? I doubt it. These guys are the ones for the job. We as investors just need to be patient.
I have been heavily adding more shares in the recent weeks simply because I still believe in this company long term and I think the valuation is absolutely ridiculous. I think we will see both Springpole and Duparquet developed into big mines. Regarding Duparquet, the potential for near term cash flow from a small starter pit operation could be a massive catalyst for this company. I think investors are completely missing this development because they are so focused on Springpole. There are quite a bit of tailings with lots of gold sitting there ready to be processed, I think something like 120k ounces total. All they need is some contractor agreements in place and we could be looking at quite decent cash flow here.
Even though it looks like this company is completely forsaken based upon the share price, I think we are actually in a very exciting place right now where all of the years of hard work that have gone into this company will suddenly materialize. Stay patient guys and add more when you still have the chance. We will soon be rewarded when this sector finally turns.
AI
