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First Mining Gold
Keith Neumeyer's First Mining Gold holds over 7 million ounces of gold resources across Canada's Springpole, Duparquet, and Goldlund development projects.
First Mining Gold
First Mining Gold was incorporated in 2015 by mining financier Keith Neumeyer, who concurrently serves as CEO of silver producer First Majestic Silver. The company was established to acquire and hold a portfolio of gold-development projects in stable jurisdictions, primarily Canada, at a time when gold-sector valuations were depressed. Neumeyer seeded the company with the Goldlund project in Ontario and rapidly expanded the portfolio through a series of acquisitions. The company's main focus is the advancement of its three primary assets through de-risking milestones like feasibility studies and environmental permitting, rather than building and operating mines itself. Its flagship Springpole project in northwestern Ontario contains 4.6 million ounces of gold in the indicated category and is one of the largest undeveloped open-pit gold projects in Canada. The Duparquet project in Quebec is a 3.4-million-ounce past-producing asset spread across a six-kilometer strike length. In Quebec, the company also hold the Pitt Gold and Lac Porcher projects. The company has entered into a definitive earn-in agreement with Goliath Resources for its remaining Ontario properties, allowing others to fund exploration while First Mining retains royalties. Operated by a lean team based in Vancouver, the company was built around the thesis that owning a critical mass of development ounces would attract a larger strategic acquirer or provide a platform for eventual consolidation. In September 2023, the company announced a partnership with the Bearfoot Anicinabe community on stewardship of the Springpole project area (per Sault Star, 2023). As of 2024, the firm also partly funds its corporate overhead through an equity stake in Treasury Metals, with whom it completed a multi-project restructuring deal. First Mining Gold's structure as a non-producing, project-holding company differentiates it from single-asset developers and creates a unique optionality play on the gold price. It monetizes discovery and permitting risk, not mining margins, and its ability to spin out assets like the Goliath Resources deal while maintaining royalty exposure provides a structural hedge against development-cycle inflation.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2015
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
Canada
City
Vancouver
Corporate office
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Principals
Daniel W. Wilton
CEO & Director
Keith Neumeyer
Founder & Chairman
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment and strategic decisions at First Mining Gold?
Keith Neumeyer serves as Chairman and is the driving force behind the company's asset-acquisition strategy, which he executes alongside CEO Dan Wilton. Wilton, a former investment banker with extensive mining M&A experience, manages day-to-day corporate development and deal structuring. The board includes long-time associates from the First Majestic Silver ecosystem, creating continuity in strategic direction.
How does First Mining Gold generate value without operating mines?
The company advances its projects through the development-stages — preliminary economic assessments, feasibility studies, and environmental permitting — to de-risk them for future acquirers or joint-venture partners. The strategy is to acquire undervalued deposits, fund critical milestones that increase project value, and then monetize through asset sales, royalties, or a corporate takeover at a premium to the cost of acquisition.
What is the relationship between First Mining Gold and First Majestic Silver?
Both companies share founder Keith Neumeyer, and the First Mining board includes multiple First Majestic veterans, which provides institutional knowledge in capital markets and mine building. However, First Mining is an independent, publicly traded entity focused on gold development assets, whereas First Majestic is a silver-producing company. The two do not cross-guarantee debt or pool balance sheets.
What are First Mining Gold's core assets?
The three primary assets are the Springpole project in Ontario (4.6 million ounces of indicated gold resources), the Duparquet project in Quebec (3.4 million ounces), and the Goldlund project in Ontario. Springpole and Duparquet receive the majority of the company's permitting and advancement capital. The company also holds a sizable equity position in Treasury Metals, which is developing the Goliath Gold Complex.
Does First Mining Gold participate in direct mine operations or partnerships?
The company does not operate mines directly. It preserves its balance sheet by partnering with others to fund exploration and development on its non-core assets, such as the earn-in agreement with Goliath Resources. For core projects like Springpole, the company is pursuing permitting with the goal of bringing in a larger capitalized partner to fund construction, while retaining a significant ownership stake or royalty.
How is First Mining Gold positioned against other gold development companies?
It holds one of the largest development-stage gold portfolios among small-cap Canadian issuers, with over 7 million ounces spread across three district-scale projects in Ontario and Quebec. Unlike single-asset developers, it has a diversified jurisdictional risk profile. Its model of monetizing assets through sale or spin-out rather than transitioning into a producer makes it a distinct bet on permitting and M&A cycles rather than operational execution.
What is the permitting status of the Springpole gold project?
The Springpole project is in the advanced stages of federal and provincial environmental assessment in Ontario. The company submitted its Environmental Impact Statement in 2022 and continues to work through the review process with regulators and local Indigenous communities. A positive final assessment and receipt of permits would mark a significant de-risking event for the project.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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