by James West on September 9, 2010

By Claire O’Connor and James West
MidasLetter.com
Thursday , September 9, 2010

First Gold Exploration began drilling on the Pivert/Rose Rare Metal Property in November 2009 and has seen success in 114 of the 115 holes drilled.(See drill map here). With continuous drilling results to be announced in the months to come, this near-surface rare metals structure is constantly expanding, boasting average drilling grades of 1.13% lithium, 3016 grams per tonne rubidium, 228 grams per tonne tantalum, 127 grams per tonne beryllium, 139 grams per tonne cesium and 73 grams per tonne gallium, calculated from the main drilling zones.

While the company’s main goal is to define an open pit production model, it’s the National Instrument 43-101 resource calculation, scheduled to be received in November 2010 that First Gold is most excited about.

Lac Pivert and Rose Properties
The Lac Pivert and Rose properties in James Bay, Quebec are contiguous and located 50 km south-southeast of, and along strike to, the Cyr Lithium Discovery by Lithium One (TSX.V:LI) and 75 km due south of Goldcorp`s Eleonore Gold Deposit (TSX:G).

The main structure consists, so far, of two connecting blocks, one 300 meters by 600 meters long and open in all directions with a width of 5 to 20 meters and the other 350 meters by 300 meters long. First Gold is now extending the mineralization towards the east and still a lot of exploring left on this huge land package (285 square kilometers).

“We’re extending the zones with constant drilling.” CEO and President Eric Leboeuf explains, “Drilling is not stopping, it’s ongoing and ongoing. The zones are increasing in width as we go towards the east. Every 50 meter step out increases between 1 and 2 meters the width, so for the moment, we’re not seeing the end of these mineralized structures, we’re actually seeing them getting bigger as we go towards the east.”

A Structure Of The Earth Bonus
Although the Pivert/Rose property is located smack bang in the middle of the Lithium One (TSX-V: LI) Cyr deposit property and a property belonging to Nemaska Exploration (TSX-V: NMX), First Gold has been blessed with a serious advantage.

The dikes on both the Lithium One and Nemaska projects are vertical. The dikes on Pivert/Rose are sub-horizontal to surface. This means that instead of digging hundreds of meters to get to the last of the dyke’s mineralization, and investing a lot of capital into building ramps, galleries and access zones, First Gold’s mineralization is all on the top so far from 0 to 120Meters slowly dipping towards the North and East.

“It’s luck. I don’t know what happened – structure of the earth bonus I guess!” Leboeuf comments, “But we’re there, sub horizontal to surface dikes, where we believe it could

become more than feasible to extract all the mineralization in the future (the future pre-feasibility report will tell us) . So if there’s going to be a mill in the area, I see it on our property because it could justify the capital investment between 2 other resources.”

Milling Matters
Leboeuf’s mentions of milling are far from mere musings. First Gold has an ambitious and plausible timeline in place to make production dreams a reality.

An NI 43-101 report is scheduled for September with a resource calculation, that’s already underway, due by mid-November. Immediately after the resource calculation the company will be ordering a pre-feasibility study which could be completed by March 2011.

Another Pivert/Rose property advantage is its infrastructure. The property lies less than 5 kilometers from the Eastmain 1 hydro-electric facilities, has an access road within 0.5 kilometers of the two blocks and a power line crossing the property less than 1 kilometer away.

With the main infrastructure already in place, First Gold would save millions on project construction, should it come to fruition.

Metals In Demand
First Gold is, as its name suggests, a gold exploration company. One might then ask; why prioritize a rare metals property?

The answer is simple; First Gold has got what the rest of the world wants, or will want. The rare metals being mined at the Pivert/Rose project have been categorized as in major demand for the next 20 years, with limited supply. With an expanding deposit and no signs of limited supply in the First Gold field, the company gains an impressive upper hand.

In particular, the prices of tantalum (as a by-product), a valuable substance for laboratory equipment, electronic equipment and a substitute for platinum, and gallium (as a by-product), used in high temperature thermometers, are already on a strong uptrend, most recently gauged at:

Tantale (Oxide) – Ta2O5
US $226.50/kg or $0.226 per ppm/gram

Gallium – Ga
US $440.00/kg or $0.44 per ppm/gram
Not to be outdone by its lesser known companions, demand for lithium is still increasing significantly, driven by the increased importance and production of lithium-ion batteries as the next generation power source. All in all, First Gold is pretty certain it’s onto a good thing with Pivert/Rose.

“We’re really excited… Having the infrastructure in place is out of this world.” Leboeuf explains, “Having at least half the mineralized zones from 0 – 75 meters in depth is another bonus and all our tonnage right now is between 0 and 120 meters which is just a great open pit model. Anybody you does the mineralized zone calculations can guesstimate that there are millions of tons as of today. The drilling that’s ongoing should bring a lot more. We should have all this backed by the independent engineers in mid-November.”

San Javier Silver Project
Although First Gold’s first priority has been awarded to the rare metals property, and justifiably so, the company is maintaining a healthy balance in the metals market.

The San Javier Gold/Silver/Base Metals Project is located in the heart of the Sierra Madre Del Sur, Southern Guerrero, Mexico. Over 30 veins on the past producing mine, with historical production averages of over 1kgrams per tonne of silver and 5grams per tonne of gold, have now been identified at surface, with each vein between 400 to 500 meters in length, averaging approx. 2.75 meters in width.

2009 random surface sampling results from San Javier yielded unusually high silver values; 12,905 grams per ton silver, 2,439 grams per tonne silver, 2,356 grams per tonne silver and 816 grams per tonne silver. In addition to the unusually high-grade silver and gold mineralization, the veins are also very rich in base metals: copper, lead, zinc and iron ore.

A positive 43-101 was recently completed on the property confirming that the project has very strong exploration potential and the price of silver has been very strong.

The Croinor Gold Project
The Croinor Project, located in Val-d’Or, Quebec, boasts a 43-101 compliant estimated resource of 814,228 tons of gold at 9.11 grams per ton for 238,414 ounces and a completed pre-feasibility study since July 2010.

The pre-feasibility study reported positive results, confirming the project’s robust economics and excellent potential for long term growth through a focused exploration program. It also indicated that the Croinor gold project has a 97% internal rate of return using Bloomberg consensus gold prices and exchange rates for 2011 through to 2015.

On July 19th 2010 First Gold announced that they have entered into a binding agreement providing for the acquisition by Blue Note (TSX-V: BNT) of all of First Gold’s interests in the Croinor gold project located near Val-d`Or, Quebec.

Blue Note Agreement
Under the terms of the agreement, Blue Note will make cash payments to First Gold consisting of a non-refundable C$100,000 in five equal monthly installments until December 31, 2010, and C$2,250,000 to be paid upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur as soon as financing is arranged, but no later than December 31, 2010.

The agreement includes First Gold`s 71% ownership in the Matchi-Manitou property and is subject to TSX Venture Exchange and other regulatory approvals.

“The agreement will allow First Gold to concentrate its financial resources and efforts on its flagship Pivert/Rose project which is currently being drilled, preparing a drill campaign on its Mexican silver property, while benefiting from the long term growth generated by the Croinor gold project through its equity position in Blue Note.” Leboeuf comments, “We have every confidence in the project and in Blue Note management’s ability to drive it forward and achieve commercial success.”

Follow their progress at www.firstgoldexploration.com

DISCLOSURE: A fee has been paid for the production and distribution of this article and as such should be viewed in the context of advertising.