Yes, this was the interview I was referring to. To me it also seems in some way quite obvious from the way he answers the question that this has been his "grand plan" all along, but he won't say too much about it because of course regulatory wise he cannot. He actually said "I would love to do it but I'm not sure what my board would think of that seeing as I am the chairman and ceo of both companies".
I think he also likes to keep the options open still because they might of course get a good deal done with a major as well or maybe FM only wants to do a JV in one of the projects? First Majestic is the "guardian angel" for FFMG and like I said I am quite confident that the main reason we have not seen a hostile takeover attempt from a major or anyone else yet is because these insiders know Keith will counteroffer from First Majestic if it gets to that and the price will go up in a bidding war. Some peole might ask why would First Majestic just not buy it up right now when its dirt cheap? My answer to this is very simple: They really don't have any need to do it, yet. Keith knows the value of First Mining's assets and he is slowly acquiring shares for himself while knowing that he can probably quite easily fend off any hostile suitor if it gets to that. He really has no rush to do anything here and the focus is on developing and permitting the assets into tip top shape. If they get the permits done and the company is still dirt cheap then Keith could just easily do a merger or JV with FFMG and take it from there. FM could also finance the development of the projects with increased cash flow from rising silver prices. If a major comes in before that then Keith can just look at their cards and decide if it makes sense to do it with a major or if he should do it himself with First Majsetic. This is the "secret sauce" that most investors seem to be missing with this company. Investors have no clue how valuable it is to have Keith as a chairman in FFMG while also being CEO of one of the largest silver mining companies in the world.
Here is something else most people don' know: Keith is also a major shareholder in a company called Snowline Gold which is in the process of making one of the biggest gold discoveries of ALL TIME. He has a 5-6% stake and the company is worth about a billion dollars right now, so this is not a small amount. If Snowline gets bought out in a billion dollar deal, Keith could potentially net 100m for himself just from this alone which he could then use to buy up FFMG big time if the stock would still be at fire sale prices.
I think the majors that are interested are still staying on the sidelines and waiting for Springpole to receive environmental approval and also looking at the developments at Duparquet, but the window of opportunity is really closing in here fast. Back in the 2020 rally, it only took one major institutional investor's buying to rocket the price up to about 50 cents in a matter of a few months. If we get to a point where everyone is rushing in to buy these juniors/developers then FFMG will explode north of 1 CAD, I am very confident about that. I have been through this before in the rally from early 2000's all the way to the mania levels of 2010/11.
