First Gold Exploration Inc fka EFG

[Jim Bishop]

First Gold soars on rare metals
Richness of drill core drives shares up 113%

Peter Koven, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, January 23, 2010


TORONTO - In the mad rush to secure lithium and rare-metals deposits around the world, a new player has grabbed the spotlight.

Until yesterday, First Gold Exploration Inc. was a virtually unknown junior miner, one of many in Canada. That quickly changed after it revealed a discovery of high-grade lithium and other rare metals on its Pivert/ Rose property in northwestern Quebec.

The company posted photos of its drill core on its website yesterday, and the images drove investors into a temporary frenzy. Shares of First Gold jumped 113% to close at 68¢. At one point, they were up a startling 197%.

The response was surprising because drilling on this project is so preliminary that First Gold has not even released the official results yet; that will come next week.

It will be months before the company determines if it has a mineable deposit. But the pictures were enough to get people talking.

"When you see the core and it's lighting up your face, you know you've got something," said Eric Leboeuf, First Gold's chief executive.

The investor response was as strong as it was because rare metals have jumped into the spotlight in the past six months, particularly lithium.

Lithium demand is expected to explode in the coming decade because of its use in electric and hybrid vehicles. Automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. are rushing to secure supply, and Canadian auto-parts giant Magna International Inc. has invested in a private lithium exploration company.

Besides lithium, the rare-metals group includes such tough-to-pronounce elements as cesium, beryllium, indium and niobium.

First Gold found high grades of several of these rare metals, but it is one in particular that is generating excitement: rubidium.

In a grab sample, the company reported it found a staggering 390 grams per tonne of rubidium, a little-known element that is used in electronics, energy and specialty glass.

That type of grade is all but unheard-of; total production of rubidium last year was only a handful of tonnes, largely from China.

"There's rubidium all across the world. But there's never enough to have main production of it. Our results are apeshit," Mr. Leboeuf said.

He bought the Pivert/Rose project last August from a private company in Val d'Or, Que., after learning about the lithium business from a colleague at Canada Lithium Corp. He knew almost nothing about rubidium before this discovery, but needless to say, he has spent the past few days reading up on it.

"It's a lithium project, but our [rubidium] byproduct is probably going to be worth 150 times more than the lithium. It's just crazy."

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FIRST GOLD EXPLORATION INC.

Ticker EFGv/TSX

Close 68¢, up 36¢

Volume 10,314,148

Avg. 6-month vol. 343,874

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