News Release

Vancouver – The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is alleging that a mineral exploration company and two people connected to it made false or misleading statements. The BCSC is also alleging that the company’s former president and CEO committed insider trading.

James Arthur Robert Voisin was the president and CEO of First Mexican Gold Corp., which at the time of the alleged misconduct was a mineral exploration company whose main asset was a property in Sonora State, Mexico.

In 2014, First Mexican obtained a quick, non-compliant overview of the gold and silver resources on the property from an experienced mining engineer. The company told her the estimate would not be used publicly.

Voisin, of Ontario, then asked John Charles Archibald, a Victoria geoscientist, to prepare a technical report for First Mexican. Archibald, who had no experience calculating or estimating mineral resources, included the engineer’s estimate, without her knowledge, in the report.

By filing a technical report that included the engineer’s non-compliant estimate, the BCSC alleges that First Mexican and Voisin provided information that was materially misleading in a record it was required to file.

Although the engineer later revised her estimate to include lower mineral resources on the property, the BCSC alleges First Mexican did not properly disclose this new information, as required by continuous disclosure provisions in the Securities Act. 

Voisin sold shares of First Mexican on 121 different days before the new information was publicly disclosed. By doing so, the BCSC alleges that Voisin committed insider trading.

The BCSC alleges that Archibald also made false or misleading statements about the preparation of the technical report and his qualifications to prepare such report under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The BCSC alleges that First Mexican breached several sections of the same National Instrument.

First Mexican announced a management change in October 2019 and changed its name to QcX Gold Corp. in July 2020. Its shares trade on the TSX-Venture Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

None of the BCSC’s allegations against First Mexican, Voisin and Archibald under the Securities Act have been proven. The commission will schedule a hearing date in January 2021.  

About the British Columbia Securities Commission (www.bcsc.bc.ca) 

The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering:

• A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence
• A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital

Media Contact:
Elise Palmer
604-899-6830

Public inquiries:
604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free)
inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca

Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org