The dream scenario of course would be an announcement to develop both Springpole & Duparquet as JVs with First Majestic Silver and eventually merge these two companies into one giant gold/silver miner long term. Keith has always been known and shown that he is willing to make bold moves. But since First Majestic just bought Jerritt Canyon (a gold mine) into their portfolio I think that will take most of his attention for now. Still, it certainly signals that he is looking to expand the company into USA & Canada in the future and is probably considering other gold assets as well. He even stated in a recent interview that the idea of First Majestic buying up First Mining had crossed his mind. If silver prices were to make new all time highs then I believe the huge cash flows at First Majestic could open up some very interesting possibilities.
Keith has stated many times that his goal with First Mining has been to create his third billion dollar company, so whatever avenues will make it possible to achieve that goal is probably what will take place. If it was up to him I definitely think he would like to keep as much of these assets inhoues as possible and develop them within FFMG. But financing is always an issue so that has to be considered.
The reality is that there is so many possibilities how this company could develop going forward with Duparquet & Springpole it is quite hard to predict how this story will unfold.
JVs with big/midtier producers are definitely my preferred choice since these options would probably be perceived as least risky by the market and the reward would probably be a massive increase in the share price. Having the support of a major who takes on the responsibility and financing/operation of the mines cannot be underestimated. Sure this would leave FFMG with probably 20-30% interest in the mines in the end, but hey if the major takes on all of the development risk then why not?
I would absolutely hate it if this company would be taken out too cheaply after all these years of hard work by management and waiting by long-term shareholders, but sadly that's part of the game. If it comes to that then I guess we will have to take whatever gets offered, but it will be decided by shareholders in the end.
One thing I am very certain of is that at least one of these assets (most likely both) will get developed into a big producing mine. Investors really don't seem to understand how rare tier 1 assets in Canada or the US are. It's not like you can just go out there as a major and buy up a lot of tier 1 assets whenever you feel like it. There really are just a handful of these around. Moreover, there are really few tier 1 assets that are as far advanced as Springpole. Duparquet is also unique because of its infrastructure and location. It also has the potential to become a monster 8-10m+ ounce asset with further drilling over the years.
We are really in the final stages of this boring "permitting phase" right now. The company is well funded for now to take us to the finish line with Springpole fully permitted and plans to develop Duparquet as a starter pit.
