First Mining Gold says Auteco set to earn 51% of Pickle Crow gold project after fulfilling first stage requirements

First Mining Gold Corp (TSE:FF) (OTCQX:FFMGF) (FRA:FMG) said its joint venture partner Auteco Minerals Ltd (ASX:AUT) (OTCMKTS:MNXMF) at the Pickle Crow gold project in Ontario has completed C$5 million worth of stage 1 expenditures and is set to earn a 51% interest in the asset.  Auteco will now hold a shareholders' meeting to approve issuing 100 million of its shares to First Mining and will apply to the Australian Securities Exchange for their listing.  READ: First Mining Gold files its pre-feasibility study (PFS) for Springpole project in Ontario First Mining expects to receive the Auteco shares by the end of April, at which point, Auteco will earn a 51% interest in First Mining subsidiary PC Gold Inc, which owns Pickle Crow. "First Mining is delighted that Auteco has completed its $5 million worth of Stage 1 expenditures on the Pickle Crow project in just one year, even though Auteco had three years to complete these expenditures," said Dan Wilton, CEO of First Mining in a statement. "Our partnership with Auteco has surfaced significant value for First Mining shareholders and continues to highlight the potential value for the Pickle Crow deposit. Our team remains encouraged and eagerly awaits results from Auteco's ongoing 45,000-metres drill program." This drill program with five diamond drill rigs is currently underway at Pickle Crow, in a bid to update the resource estimate by mid-year 2021. To date, Auteco has completed 84 diamond drill holes for 19,400 metres (m). Highlight assays have included 5.6m at 33.4 g/t gold from 20.3m in one hole, and 1.6m at 16.9 g/t gold from 12.7m in another. Auteco will now have a two-year follow-on period, as of the date of executing the joint venture agreement, within which to acquire an additional 19% interest in PC Gold and then a right to earn a further 10% after that. Auteco finished 2020 with A$29.6 million cash and is well-funded to execute the remaining earn-in requirements to earn up to an 80% interest in PC Gold, noted First Mining. Pickle Crow was previously one of Canada's highest-grade historical gold mines. It operated from 1935 until 1966, during which it reportedly produced almost 1.5 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 16.14 g/t. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com