First Mining Gold hails partner drilling at Pickle Crow which continues to enlarge areas of known mineralization

First Mining Gold Corp (TSE:FF) (OTCQX:FFMGF) said it was excited by initial results from its partner's ongoing drilling at the Pickle Crow gold project in Ontario, which "continues to enlarge the areas of known mineralization and highlight the project's resource expansion potential". Auteco Minerals (ASX:AUT) began its maiden drilling program at the asset in May this year and so far 19 holes for 4,464 metres (m) have been drilled, with assays returned for nine holes and partial assays for a further six READ: First Mining Gold says its Pickle Crow partner is poised to upsize drill program to 45,000 metres "Drilling has been successful in intersecting shallow, high-grade mineralization and these results are being followed up with an expanded 45,000 metres resource definition and discovery program now underway on site. A 24-person, all-season camp has been established on site to support exploration activities," noted First Mining in a statement. Highlight drill results include  99.35 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 0.6 metres in one hole, which included an intersection of 181 g/t of the yellow metal over 0.3 metres. Another hole hit 24.45 g/t gold over 1.7 metres, including 122 g/t of the precious metal over 0.3 metres. High-grade gold mineralization has been encountered at Pickle Crow in numerous areas up to 250 metres outside the current resource area, while further targets have been identified for further drilling in 2020. A third rig will be mobilized in coming weeks. Exploration is currently focused on defining potential additional resources within the so-called Core Trend, which plays host to the current inferred resource and the historical mining and infrastructure. Pickle Crow is one of Canada's highest-grade historical gold mines. It operated from 1935 until 1966, reportedly producing almost 1.5 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 16.14 g/t. The property spans around 190 sq km (19,000 hectares) covering a major gold province and Auteco recently increased its ground by staking an additional 130  sq km  (13,000 ha)  contiguous to Pickle Crow, thereby increasing the combined property's land package to over 320  sq km. Under the terms of a March 2020 deal, Auteco can earn a full 80% interest in Pickle Crow by spending a total of C$10 million on exploration over five years, making cash payments to First Mining totaling C$4.1 million, and issuing 125 million shares. Upon completion of the second stage of the earn-in (70%), First Mining will be granted a 2% net smelter returns (NSR) Royalty, 1% of which can be bought back for US$2.5 million. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com