High-Grade Silver Mineralization Results: What Does This Mean and What’s Next?

0:08 Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to Bunker Hill Mining's Live Investment Summit today hosted by 6. I'm pleased to introduce our speakers for today. We have Richard Williams, Executive Chairman here, and Sam Ash, CEO, joining with audio this morning. Sam and Richard will walk us through a company presentation, and then we'll be accepting questions live. So you can submit your questions at any time on the Q&A panel on the right-hand side of the screen, and we will get to them after the presentation.

0:36 And as always, the summit is being recorded and will be available to watch afterwards on SIX.com. So without further ado, I'll hand it over to you, Richard. Thank you, Dasha, and thank you, 6, for putting this together. I know you did an excellent job for us last time, and I'm looking forward to being involved this time. And thank you, everybody, for dialing in. I'll be relatively brief at the front end, but available for questions at the back end, because we really want to get to the position where Sam is able to give you as CEO the update on the drill results and where we're going with the project and the company. But Just to sort of set the scene and remind you, because I wasn't on the last call, that we got involved or I got involved in Bunker Hill a year ago, almost to the date.

1:28 And our purpose And the purpose set by myself, Sam, Brad, and others involved in the project at that time, was to look for a project that we could restart so that it could become the cornerstone asset of a new company. And this project needed to have a number of qualities. Firstly, it needed to have the potential of being a very long life mine That's obviously greater than 20 years, the potential to be that. It also had to have the potential to be able to run at the lowest part of the cost curve, certainly the lowest quartile over its life of mine.

2:17 Thirdly, it needed to be in a jurisdiction that was very favorable and supportive for mining. And finally, it needed to be a project that could be run at the very front end of modern environment, social and governance practices, so that we could deliver not just to our shareholders significant financial returns over the life of mine, but could also make a significant difference to the social fabric around them, an economic fabric around the mine, and be one of the many players involved in the industry today that is seeking to help to transform mining from its past into a greener and more modern future.

3:02 And Bunker Hill met all those criteria.

3:06 Now, a year ago, when we took this over, there was an awful lot of work to do. And I know Sam has briefed you on all of this in previous calls. And we can come back to it at questions. But you find us now a year later, only a year later, with a strengthened team, within spitting distance of issuing a restart PEA, and Sam can talk to that later. And having uncovered through study and drill work, great work on the ground, by the way, some very interesting new potential that we'd expected to find. And that's really focused in on bringing more silver into the existing resource envelope. And Sam will talk about that shortly.

3:57 But before I hand over to Sam, I just want to make, I want to emphasize one key point. This new management team has a totally new purpose to its predecessors. Our aim is not to generate value and realize value through the tidy up and sale of the asset. Our aim is to ensure that this asset, superb as it is, can have those impediments to its development removed and become a cornerstone of a new company, led by Sam and his team, that can contribute, as I said, to the change that the mining industry is going on and play its part locally, regionally, and within the sector as part of that transformation. And with that, I'll hand over to Sam, who will touch on some of those points, but then move quite quickly to the crux and the important part of this presentation, which is the results and where we're going.

4:55 Sam. Thank you, Richard. And, you know, Sustainability and this slide is a great place to pick up because I want to take a moment just to talk about sustainability and ESG and what that means to us and why it is such a cornerstone. When you think about ESG, I think most people kind of immediately think about environmental performance, and that is absolutely at the core of the company that we're building. But it's much broader than that. And the way that I think about ESG and the way that we think about ESG is that is the building blocks of any sustainable company with a solid future. It's a way that we position ourselves so that we can take advantage of opportunities And it's also a way that we position ourselves so that we can react and manage risks appropriately.

5:53 So it's more than just environmental, it's more than just our social impact. It's about governance, it's about transparency, It's about just conducting business in a very different way. And so that's, I think, an important framework, an important understanding about the company that we're looking to build. But this particular call, we wanted to call, to arrange this call and just provide some more context and some more color to the press release on silver results that we put out earlier in the week. And so I will have a fairly brief call, and it will be fairly focused on the silver results and what those mean and why we're excited about them.

6:42 And a good place to start is with the area that we had press release some pretty significant

6:52 silver channel samples. And this area, and this slide that you see here, this is the 9 level of the Bunker Hill mine. And you can see in the green box the area of interest that the channel samples were taken from. And why this is interesting and exciting to us is this is kind of the, We've talked, those of you who have been following the story, you've heard me speak quite often about the efforts that we've put into digitization and creating a 3D geologic model to properly understand the ore body and the nature of the mineralization. And I think that, you know, what you're seeing here is a culmination of that, and some of the power that that approach brings to the table. So, as we were been going through, and the geology team has been studying and analyzing and interpreting the geologic information, you know, this area kind of came to light.

7:55 Initially through some, you know, anecdotal conversations with people who had worked in this area in the mine. And then, and that kind of pointed us in the direction. And then armed with the digitization, the geology, and the 3D model, you know, we were able to look at and interpret the, you know, the geology and

8:19 the opportunity. And then through some great geologic field work, we were able to go in and investigate up close and personal what the geology looked like and what the opportunity that existed was. And what we were able to see is that there was some preliminary development mining that had taken place in this area, that had exposed mineralization, And that's what we were able to channel sample across. So we were able to actually get up close and personal and channel sample across the full vein and then couple that with our digitization, we're able to identify that the mining was not all that extensive in this area, and that with our geologic understanding, there was a significant up dip, down dip, and opportunity to extend that mineralization along strike.

9:31 And this is actually the area, you know, we have a drill now in this area which is going to be following up not only on the vein that That we identified and we're able to sample with our channel sampling But some additional vein structure and this area of the mind is fairly complex geologically. There's multiple there's multiple quartz galena veins that are crossing and bisecting and intersecting, and this looks like it's going to be a pretty, pretty interesting area for us from a silver-focused exploration standpoint. So, you know, just looking at, you know, this was the graphic that was identified in our, and included in our press release, And you can see some of the grades are, you know, we're really quite excited about the quantity of silver in these results.

10:26 It does, as it is common in a polymetallic deposit, It does come with significant amounts of lead. But you're seeing the pure silver grades increase, in most cases, up above 10 ounces per ton, which is pretty exciting. So those channel samples, that reflects where those channel samples were actually taken across the vein and where we are looking to follow up with a drill campaign. And as I said, the drill has moved in there now. It's setting up today and we'll be drilling on the first holes in this program, you know, by the end of the day, which is actually pretty exciting.

11:14 This is just a more kind of oblique view of the same area. You can see in red, this is the geologic interpretation of the veins. So you can see that, you know, there's a kind of a complex intersection

11:27 of what is interpreted to be multiple quartz galena veins in this area. And so this area is fairly complex geologically, but certainly indications are that it is very well mineralized. So we're really quite excited about this area. In addition, this was a hole in a completely different area that was drilled. And this is in the upper areas of the mine, right at the top of the mine on the 5 level. And You can see where we had done some previous drilling and intersections. You can see some of the major geologic features, the Cape Fault. And what's exciting about this is this is a wide intercept of quartz galena or mineralization in an area of the mine that was essentially a gap in the historic mining. The mining in this area dates back to the 1800s, and in that time, the geologic understanding and the ability to project and identify ore was obviously, you know, somewhat limited, you know, there was not, they didn't have the extensive use of drill holes to do that back in the early 18 or late 1800s, early 1900s.

12:54 And I think that really identifies the opportunity that we see, particularly in the upper area of the mind As when you bring the modern geologic techniques, 3D modeling, geologic analysis to bear, it's not unsurprising that we're able to identify and find target-rich opportunities for silver and galena silver mineralization in the upper areas of the mine. So it's really, you know, just wanted to provide a little bit more color and context. This is certainly an area that we will also be following up on and advancing the exploration, the silver-focused exploration program on. And it's all looking pretty good. We're really quite excited.

13:43 On the PEA that Richard mentioned, the technical work is advancing really rapidly. We're still on track for early to mid April for a PEA release. And at that point, we'll be continuing the technical work, moving to pre-feasibility with an eye towards restart. So thank you guys for the opportunity. Apologies that I couldn't be on video this morning. The internet in Northern Idaho is somewhat finicky sometimes, so I don't have the bandwidth to work on video. But nevertheless, appreciate your time. And I think we can move into questions, Dasha. All right. Dasha, if I? Yeah. Sorry, Dasha.

14:29 But If before we move to questions, apologies, Sam, I just want to just talk a little bit more about some of the ESG dimension that you touched on before we go into questions. Because I know that the focus on this is the geology and unlocking the value from there. I just want to make a couple of points that you'd have heard from before. When we've looked at this project and we say we want it to run at the front end of what people expect from mining today, from an environmental, social, and governance perspective. From an environment perspective, as you will see coming out in the PEA, which we will wait to talk about when it's published, you'll see us taking approach to emissions, environmental footprint in terms of surface disturbance, waste treatment and so on, that is what we judge to be and power, et cetera, we judge to be right at the front end of what industry is doing to date.

15:35 And we're really able to do that at bunker in ways that are very capital efficient because of the near 95 years worth of infrastructure construction that we inherit. Large voids underground, access, regional power that's mainly hydro, etc. And really importantly, infrastructure that has been built by and managed by our partner, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and most specifically the existing water treatment plant. And so from the environmental perspective, underpinned by our partnership approach, working with the EPA, IDEQ and others, including the University of Idaho in Moscow and elsewhere, we're seeking to ensure that when we restart Bunker Hill, it's not done in ways that mirror the past, but are done in ways that have transformed the mine into a system that is truly modern.

16:43 From a social perspective, We all understand that the imposition, necessary imposition, of the regulations of the early 1970s, specifically the Clean Air and Clean Water Act, followed by the Circular or Superfund Act in 1980, led to significant change in the mining industry of the continental United States with negative impacts on the societies and communities around those mines. Jobs effectively were lost.

17:15 But to the great advantage of the environment. So it's very important for us that when we restart the mine and construct a mine in advance of that and look to the long-term future of a 20-plus-plus-year life of mine, We're doing it in ways that maximizes the benefit to the local community. And it's no coincidence, it's deliberate, that we have Sam Ash running this business from Kellogg alongside the mine in Idaho, living amongst the community, a community that his father was part of when he was working on the Bunker Hill mine in the 1970s. And it's no coincidence that we brought in Brad Barnett, a man I've known for over 20 years, who 1 brought into Barrick to help do the reorganization and rationalization of how Barrick was managing its very large closure portfolios before both Brad and I left a couple of years ago.

18:13 He's a Californian environmental development economist with a great amount of experience in this space. And he'll be both ensuring for Sam and for the company that the environmental management standards, the partnerships with the US EPA and others, as well as our enduring and vital partnership with the local community is optimized for all stakeholders. And then the other piece on the governance side, we see good governance set by the regulations of the exchanges, as well as good practice across industry, as being a source of value. And although it's only been a year, we've taken a lot of steps already to upgrade and change our capability at the board. Bringing in Cassie Joseph, fantastic, with an experience, legal and environmental management experience from the DA's office of California and Nevada and current general counsel of Nevada Copper.

19:17 And then Pam Saxton, a longstanding and very experienced audit and financial expert based out of Denver, Colorado, to really thicken up and strengthen our governance practices. There's work in progress. And bringing in David Weins with his team from the financial side to

19:38 really lock in our business and set it for growth and for the future are all very important parts of this. So I wanted to touch on all of that because although we're here primarily to talk about the geology and the engineering, to just double down on the point that Sam said is that without getting those other parts of this business set and organized properly and learning by what we're finding the geology and the engineering won't ever realize for all stakeholders what we want. So I wanted to make that important point before I hand over to Dasha and Sam for the questions. Dasha, back to you. Great. Thank you so much. All right. So we're going to jump right into the Q&A. So if you do have a question, it's your time to submit 1 now, but we have a few here. So I'm just gonna jump right in. Stephanie is asking, I know that you're researching a voluminous amount of historical data. Do you also use something like ZTEM?

20:39 Yeah, that's a great question, Stephanie. So, you know, up to this point, we have not done any remote sensing gravimetric or Z-TIM type work. You know, we've, we still have, and we have come a long way and we're every day learning more and more with the data that we have available to us and existing to us at the moment. But we have been talking and looking at and evaluating the potential of doing some remote sensing work in our exploration program. And I guess what I would say to that on the geologic side, historically the geologic understanding was interpreted to be that the mineralization was associated with faulting.

21:33 Now that was disproven late in the mine's operating life, just before closure, that all of the faulting was post-mineralization. And, you know, with that understanding, you know, it opens up, you know, large areas of ground where there is exploration potential. And certainly one of the ways to go forward

21:56 and advance those ideas and concepts is with remote sensing. And we are looking at the opportunities and what would be the right way to approach that. I think you will certainly see that as we move forward in our exploration program, but I do not have a date or any of work like that scheduled at this time, but we are evaluating a range of technologies and how they could apply to the geologic hypothesis that we're working under. Great, thank you, Sam. Ken is asking, could you please address how the company intends to handle the underground workings that have been closed for years and decades and the environmental liabilities related to it?

22:42 Yeah, so that's a great question as well, Ken. I think the best example would be an area in the 5 level and how that relates to acid mine drainage in the mine. So there's an area of, I guess to start with, the acid mine drainage challenge that we face at Bunker Hill is getting more and more understood and more and more clear every day. There is one area in particular in the mine that the water that moves through that area is the cause of over 90% of the metal loading and acid generation in the mine. And that water is between 6 and 18 gallons a minute, depending on the type of year, whether we're in a high flow or a low flow part of the year.

23:38 And so when we went in and we investigated that area of the mine, one of the things that became clear is that the condition of the mine in that area was not conducive to moving and transmitting water as quickly as possible through that area of the mine. So we went in there and we cleaned up, we improved the drainage, And that was a big part of being able to achieve with our pilot test plant for water treatment, a 70% reduction in the acid mine drainage coming out of the mine. Now, We will be looking to improve that. But essentially, that's one of the key ways that we're looking to address the old workings.

24:23 Another way that we'll have more detail of in the PEA is that in those areas and those historic workings, particularly in the areas that are where the acid mine drainage chemical reaction is taking place, we will look to fill those with a low porosity paste tails. And that will begin to break the chemical reaction cycle that's happening. The workings that we need to reuse. The ones that we don't need to reuse, we'll be looking to fill with tails and paste fill to break the acid mine drainage chemical reaction and ensure that the long-term environmental stability of the underground workings.

25:25 Great. Yeah, there's a follow-up question about the environmental liability, and Philip is asking if Bunker Hill has purchased any environmental liability type insurance, and if you are planning to, if not, and then if so, can you share which type of insurance company will provide the coverage? So we have, at the moment, we have standard corporate liability insurance. When you look at the environmental challenges and the environmental risks that are faced at Bunker Hill, the predominant one is around acid mine drainage. And it's important to understand when thinking about the risk in that framework, that all of the water that leaves the Bunker Hill mine is transported to a water treatment plant that is owned and operated by the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, which is discharging, you know, treating and then discharging that water at a very high quality levels into the Coeur d'Alene River. So when you look at that and you understand that that's the key environmental issue that we're working with.

26:38 We don't feel at this point that a specific environmental liability insurance is a requirement, but we'll certainly always be analyzing that and understanding that risk. And if that changes at some point, we will, you know, we will take the necessary steps. Absolutely. David's asking how challenging do you expect access to skilled labor will be? That's actually a very good question. What's interesting is that, you know, the Silver Valley of Northern Idaho has a tremendous history of mining skills. And I think that my experience in Nevada in particular, it was often the case that the best miners on our mining crews and the best mining professionals.

27:34 When you got to know them, had their roots in the Silver Valley. And the Silver Valley to this day, exports a lot of very skilled mining labor all across the Western United States and the world. Now what we are looking to do is we're looking to you know to turn that labor back into the the Silver Valley. Now that being said you know the vision that we have of the mine that we're looking to build is one that is modern, fully electrified, fully digitally enabled. And in that regard, you know, there is a skillset that will require job training and skills development.

28:19 But I think we're ideally placed in an area where, we have a workforce who already has exceptional mining talent, And we'll be looking to supplement that with the and modernize that with the technical and technology training that suits the mining operation that we're looking to build. Great, thank you. Mika is asking, is there a decision to exercise the option to purchase the mine more or less hinged on the results of the PEA? And if not, what work needs to be done in order for the purchase to make sense? Okay, so there are absolutely, it's our, first, we have a exclusive option to purchase the mine and we really look at that as, and there's value in that option.

29:15 And we are exploring and adding value to the company. The, you know, the PEA is a step in that process. But it is absolutely our intent to move forward and exercise that option at the right time that is that makes the most sense. You know, the PEA is a step of the, is a step in that process of generating the value. And the strategy is absolutely to acquire the mine and move forward and restart the operation. Great, thank you so much. And if I may just, Tasha, before you move on, just to add a bit to that, is Placer Mining Corporation, and we have the lease, the option to purchase the lease arrangement with them, we see them as partners in this endeavor post-purchase as well. They will be issued equity as part of that purchase price.

30:06 And we work with them now on a daily basis. Sam's team working with them ensure that the necessary care and maintenance of the mine is maintained and more. And so for both parties both the current owner and ourselves developing the mine so we have absolute certainty of its future is good for them and good for us. And again it comes down to this partnership approach that we believe is so essential. Sam spoke of it a minute ago with respect to the high quality labor that's available in the Silver Valley. We don't take that for granted. These are really good people who have extraordinary track records of productivity and mining excellence.

30:51 And we seek to compete with others not just in the Silver Valley but the whole of the USA and the industry for that type of quality. And for that we have to develop the type of partnership approach to labour relations, along with environmental and social relations, as well as through the purchase with Placer Mining Corporation, that will set us up for success. It's strategic, these questions, and Sam's answer was excellent, but I just wanted to make that point with respect to how we look at this purchase. Great, thank you so much. So our last question here is from Richard, but if you do have a question, Now's your chance to submit 1. Richard's asking how many ounces of silver are there to be recovered? And is there a 43-101 report speaking to the resource quantity?

31:42 Thank you, Richard. So as far as how many ounces are to be recovered, the PEA will outline that clearly. What I can speak to directionally is that the resource is certainly zinc and base metal dominant at the moment. In the mines operating history, there was 165 million ounces of silver produced as a by-product. We look and seek with our exploration program to rebalance that resource to the point where we will be a silver dominant from a revenue perspective over time with exploration success. More specifically to answer your question, yes there is a 43-101 compliant resource. The 1st resource was published in September of last year, and that was an inferred resource of almost 9 million tons.

32:44 About 2 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago now, we published an updated resource with an increase to just over 10 million tons in resource and a converting 4.4 million tons of inferred mineralization to indicated mineralization. That resource is the foundation of the study work that is ongoing with the PEA. And I can point you to both our website and CDAR for the full publication of those both resource numbers and the resource report. We are in the process of updating the 43-101 resource report. And, you know, that will be available, you know, over the next couple of weeks as the report is actually written.

33:35 But the resource numbers and tabulation of the updated resource is available. Great. Well, thank you so much, Richard and Sam, for joining us today and taking us through your core presentation. And thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions. If you think of a question after this summit is ended, we'll be emailing out a short survey, and the Bunker Hill Mining team will be happy to follow up with you directly. And as Sam said, you can also find more information on their website at bunkerhillmining.com. And this presentation is being recorded and you can rewatch it on six.com afterwards. So I'll hand it back to you, Richard, for the final word. Thank you very much, Dasha. And thank you to everybody that attended and for your questions.

34:20 Thanks also to Sam for explaining things so well, as you always do. We look forward to the opportunity to share with you more news on a go-forward basis. I think really the next exciting update to you all and the market and everyone in general, particularly those partners of ours in Kellogg and the Silver Valley and Idaho, will be Sam talking to the PEA results, which we expect to come through in April. So it's very close now.