Bunker Hill Mining Corp. (TSX-V: BNKR) (OTCQB: BHLL)
(“Bunker Hill” or the
“Company”) is
pleased to announce that project restart activities have
accelerated in early 2024 with early stage construction activities
about to commence in support of new purpose built Process and
Filtration Plant buildings.
“With underground infrastructure preparations already well
advanced this is a particularly exciting time at our main site in
Kellogg as we transition out of engineering and design and into
preliminary construction activities,” said Sam Ash, Bunker Hill’s
CEO, adding that “all is progressing very nicely in what will be a
tremendously exciting year for Bunker Hill.”
PROCESS PLANT EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT PASSES
80%
Early in 2024 Bunker Hill contracted Barnhart Crane &
Rigging, who had previously helped the company successfully and
safely dismantle and transport the Pend Oreille mill from Metaline
Falls, WA to Kellogg, ID, to perform a similar role with critical
components purchased from the Golden Sunlight mine. Most
conspicuous among these components was a Rod Mill that will be
repurposed as the primary Ball Mill in the new Process Plant to
potentially enable the 1800tpd operational milling throughput with
significant upside capacity (cf. Bunker Hill 2.0). With these parts
now on site, as well as the full suite of Pend Oreille Mill
equipment, procurement of equipment for the new Process Plant was
at 81% as at 22 Feb 24.
Barnhart transporting Golden Sunlight milling
equipment from Montana to Idaho
Bunker Hill team member showing the Golden
Sunlight Rod Mill to visiting engineers from Ausenco
TAKING POWER UNDERGROUND
After the connection of the Wardner base of mining operations to
the overland power grid in late 2024, on 21 Feb the Bunker Hill
mining team safely dropped power underground as part of the first
stage of connecting the highest levels of the mine (those that will
be mined in the first three years after restart) to mainline
electrical power. In the coming weeks this power will be used to
start the main 7ft ventilaton fan that has already been procured
and is ready to go, and to power the first fully automated mine
doors ever to be installed in the Bunker Hill mine. Iterative power
drops will continue throughout the year to ensure all parts of the
mine between Levels 5 and 9 that are integral to the mine plan will
be ready to support the full suite of mining activities on
restart.
Power being ‘dropped’ from the Cherry Raise (R)
underground to the 5 Level (L)
In addition to these activities a drilling contact with Dynamic
Drilling, Inc. was recently executed in support of a drill program
that will commence in April 2024 and last for much of the year in
support of both resource definition and resource expansion (cf.
Press Release of 19 Jan 24 ‘Value Creation Through
Exploration’).
DRILLING OF DEEP PIERS
On 4 Mar 24 LFI from Kansas will deploy rigs onto the main
Kellogg site to commence the drilling of auger-cast piles. This is
a pre-foundation, preparation of the land activity with drilling
due to commence on the west side of the yard before advancing to
the east side. In preparation for this work the building previously
used by team members as an office building, a pre-war building
dating from the early 20th century, is in the process of being
demolished (with a period of abatement preceding actual
demolition).
Office building in the process of being
demolished shown in its historical context (L). An auger-cast pile
rig operated by LFI (R)
Whilst not formally classified as construction activities, this
drill program will nevertheless mark the start of a transition out
of an extensive engineering and design phase and into physical
activity on the ground. The pre-foundational design work for this
has been a collaborative effort by Barr Engineering Company (the
group that has been designing the Process Plant) and LFI, a company
that specializes in auger-cast piles.
Deep pier and auger-cast pile design that LFI
will execute in support of Process Plant foundations
QUALIFIED PERSON
Mr. Scott E. Wilson, CPG, President of RDA and a
consultant to the Company, is an independent “qualified person” as
defined by NI 43-101 and is acting as the qualified person for the
Company. He has reviewed and approved the technical information
summarized in this news release.
The Qualified Person has verified the
information disclosed herein, including the sampling, preparation,
security and analytical procedures underlying such information, and
is not aware of any significant risks and uncertainties that could
be expected to affect the reliability or confidence in the
information discussed herein.
ABOUT BUNKER HILL MINING
CORP.
Under new Idaho-based leadership, Bunker Hill
Mining Corp. intends to sustainably restart and develop the Bunker
Hill Mine as the first step in consolidating a portfolio of North
American mining assets with a focus on silver and critical metals.
Information about the Company is available on its website,
www.bunkerhillmining.com, or within the SEDAR+ and EDGAR
databases.
For additional information
contact:
Corporate Secretary+1 604 506
3613ir@bunkerhillmining.com
Cautionary Statements
The TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSX-V”) has
neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.
Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news
release.
Certain statements in this news release are
forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term
in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as
well as within the meaning of the phrase ‘forward-looking
information’ in the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National
Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations
(collectively, “forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking
statements are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking
statements include estimates and statements that describe the
Company’s future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the
effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or
result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by
such terms as “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “estimates”,
“may”, “could”, “would”, “will”, or “plan” or variations of such
words and phrases. Since forward-looking statements are based on
assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very
nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although
these statements are based on information currently available to
the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results
will meet management’s expectations. Risks, uncertainties, and
other factors involved with forward-looking statements could cause
actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking information.
Forward-looking statements in this news release
include, but are not limited to, the Company’s intentions regarding
its objectives, goals or future plans and statements, including,
without limitation: operational activities related to the planned
restart of the Bunker Hill mine and the expected benefits,
completion time and budget thereof; planned exploration of drilling
targets; revenue potential opportunities from mining and sale of
ore; and the Company seeking other value-creating opportunities.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
the Company’s inability to raise sufficient capital for its
operations; further testing and drilling not yielding additional
mineral resources; the fluctuating price of commodities, capital
market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel
and supply chains; failure to identify mineral resources; failure
to convert estimated mineral resources to mineral reserves at the
expected rates or at all; the inability to complete a feasibility
study which recommends a production decision; the preliminary
nature of metallurgical test results; the Company’s ability to
restart and develop the Bunker Hill Mine and the risks of not
basing a production decision on a feasibility study of mineral
reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, resulting
in increased uncertainty due to multiple technical and economic
risks of failure which are associated with this production decision
including, among others, areas that are analyzed in more detail in
a feasibility study, such as applying economic analysis to
resources and reserves, more detailed metallurgy and a number of
specialized studies in areas such as mining and recovery methods,
market analysis, and environmental and community impacts and, as a
result, there may be an increased uncertainty of achieving any
particular level of recovery of minerals or the cost of such
recovery, including increased risks associated with developing a
commercially mineable deposit with no guarantee that production
will begin as anticipated or at all or that anticipated production
costs will be achieved; failure to commence production would have a
material adverse impact on the Company's ability to generate
revenue and cash flow to fund operations; failure to achieve the
anticipated production costs would have a material adverse impact
on the Company's cash flow and future profitability; delays in
obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental,
environmental or other project approvals; political risks; changes
in equity markets; uncertainties relating to the availability and
costs of financing needed in the future; the inability of the
Company to budget and manage its liquidity in light of the failure
to obtain additional financing, including the ability of the
Company to complete the payments pursuant to the terms of the
agreement to acquire the Bunker Hill Mine Complex; inflation;
changes in exchange rates; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays
in the development of projects; capital, operating and reclamation
costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks
involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and
those other risks set out in the Company’s public documents filed
on SEDAR+. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and
factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this
news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on
such information, which only applies as of the date of this news
release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur
in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, other than as required by law. No stock exchange,
securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or
disapproved the information contained herein.
Cautionary Note to United States
Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred
Resources
This news release has been prepared in
accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect
in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities
laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve
estimates included in this news release have been disclosed in
accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining,
Metallurgy, and Petroleum (“CIM”) Definition Standards on Mineral
Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by
the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards
for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and
technical information concerning mineral projects. The terms
“mineral reserve,” “proven mineral reserve” and “probable mineral
reserve” are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI
43-101 and the CIM standards. Pursuant to subpart 1300 of
Regulation S-K (“S-K 1300”), the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) now recognizes estimates of “measured
mineral resources,” “indicated mineral resources” and “inferred
mineral resources.” In addition, the SEC has amended its
definitions of “proven mineral reserves” and “probable mineral
reserves” to be substantially similar to the corresponding
standards of the CIM. Investors are cautioned that while terms are
substantially similar to CIM standards, there are differences in
the definitions and standards under S-K 1300 and the CIM standards.
Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral
resources that the Company may report as “proven reserves,”
“probable reserves,” “measured mineral resources,” “indicated
mineral resources” and “inferred mineral resources” under NI 43-101
will be the same as the reserve or resource estimates prepared
under the standards adopted under S-K 1300. Investors are also
cautioned that while the SEC now recognizes “measured mineral
resources,” “indicated mineral resources” and “inferred mineral
resources,” investors should not assume that any part or all of
mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into
reserves. Mineralization described using these terms has a great
amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty
as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed
that all or any part of an “measured mineral resource,” “indicated
mineral resource” or “inferred mineral resource” will ever be
upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of
inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or
pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are
cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral
resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure
of “contained ounces” in a resource is permitted disclosure under
Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits
issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute
“reserves” by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without
reference to unit measures. Accordingly, information concerning
mineral deposits contained in this news release may not be
comparable with information made public by companies that report in
accordance with U.S. standards.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b5c6543c-a2fb-4c75-9f88-c7d68b7f656d
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f88e5946-f763-444c-875b-622b67e4b03d
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f8ca7948-2cd0-4f63-938d-ba1d28ad525f
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c7f8d99b-0615-43a4-9bbf-586cff081091
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/74631aa8-4dab-452d-af81-2184621c1a35
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/20d5afa5-636f-4e1a-8b99-25f68c96dec5
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e2fffa7d-fab5-4ca7-a4d5-222756aa66f7
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d95fd4b9-2ab5-480b-8d3f-8723049a5f8f
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