Errata Statement: Environment and Climate Change Canada Comments on the draft Springpole Gold Project Environmental Assessment Report

ECCC reviewed the following additional documentation for the Springpole Gold project in relation to caribou that was provided after a meeting with IAAC and the Proponent on April 15, 2026:

1. First Mining Gold Corp. - Technical Memo – Springpole Gold Project information request August 2025
2. First Mining Gold Corp. - Technical memo on mitigations and offsetting commitments
3. Caribou Conservation Stewardship Program - Project Report on Land-use and Caribou Population Simulation for the Churchill, Berens, and Kinloch Caribou Ranges

The material above involves comments ECCC 14, 15, and 16 provided on March 30, 2026, in relation to IAAC's draft EA Report and conditions for the project.  These comments remain the same after reviewing the additional information; however, we wish to modify ECCC 14 to now state the following:

"ECCC noted that the Churchill range local population is currently declining, and that the project could potentially accelerate this rate of decline."

We removed reference to the estimated 5% decline in our initial comment, as there are several estimated rates in the new technical reports noted above.

ECCC acknowledges the commitment of the Proponent to develop offset plans; however, as the draft plans (containing details on objectives, timing, mapped locations, scale, monitoring, etc.) will not be ready for review until two years after the initiation of construction, there is no change to the expert information and knowledge that was provided.

Our position with respect to caribou continues to align with the expert information and knowledge we provided on the EIS in February 2025 which indicated that, even with offset measures, ECCC expects residual negative impacts are likely when accounting for potential offsets. This expectation is due to two compounding factors: (1) the time lag before restoration offsets become functional in an already declining population, and (2) the uncertainty associated with the ability to offset all residual negative impacts of habitat loss - particularly with respect to the quality and functions of high-use critical habitat. The proposed offsets may reduce these impacts but are unlikely to account for all of them.