Bunker Hill Mining starts construction of processing plant and begins resource expansion drill program at Bunker Hill Mine, Idaho

Bunker Hill Mining Corp. [TSXV-BNKR; OTCQB-BHLL] provided an update on its Bunker Hill Mine located in Kellogg, Idaho.

“The start of our processing plant construction represents a vital and exciting milestone in our journey to restart the Bunker Hill Mine.” said Sam Ash, CEO, “We are on track for the planned start of both mining and mill commissioning by the end of this year, with the goal of ramping up to full production through Q1 2025”.

On April 30, 2024, the company received its critical Pre-Permit to Construct from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ), allowing the company to start construction of its processing, and associated tailings management and mining facilities. This essential permission was granted following a detailed review of the Company’s Air Emissions Model and all its associated controls.

The company is on track to start technical commissioning of the plant during Q4 2024. This will be concurrent with the planned start of mining and the building up of stockpiles; with the ramp up to full production through the first quarter of 2025.

After completing a detailed review of the Bunker Hill restart plant, the company elected to optimize the Tailings Filtration Plant design to ensure both the highest possible standards of long-term environmental management and the ability to ramp up operations from 1800-2500 tpd over time.

This final design favored the more effective, but more expensive, pressure filtration system over the disk filter method considered in the company’s preliminary feasibility study for the Bunker Hill Mine dated September 30, 2022.

The engineering for the new Filtration Plant has passed the 60% engineering milestone; with construction of the foundations intended to start in June 2024 following the setting of the deep piers.

The costs associated with the optimization of the Tails Filtration solution coupled with other key activities to de-risk the original design of the processing plant – specifically greater investment in deep pier stability, have been incorporated into a revised project budget and mining schedule. This optimization currently projects a marginal increase in the original ‘total cost-to-complete’ budget approved in Q1 2023, the start of mining in Q4 2024 with a ramp up to full production through Q1 2025. These adjustments have been incorporated into the on-going re-financing process.

The company has been financing the project since H1 2023 using the US$67M financing package provided by Sprott Streaming. To improve projected free cashflow/share once the mine is in production, the Company has been conducting a re-financing process concurrent with advancing and thereby de-risking the total project plan. This aims to both lower the cost of project capital as well as increase the total quantum of capital available for the updated and de-risked project plan.

After three months, the company reported that this process has identified multiple suitable options, and a preferred solution with signed term sheet has been chosen. As a result, it has now moved into the execution phase and are on track to conclude this within the next 60 days.

On May 10, the company initiated a resource expansion and exploration drilling program in support of the staged restart plan. This limited and precise program is fully funded within the existing restart budget. Over the coming months, 8,975 feet of core will be drilled from underground to further define and expand the existing resource. The initial drill targets are in close proximity to where the initial mining phase will take place.

This is the first phase of a staged, deliberate, multi-year exploration and resource expansion drill program, to be funded from operating cashflow when the mine is in production.

Bunker Hill Mining intends to sustainably restart and develop the Bunker Hill Mine as the first step in consolidating and then optimizing several mining assets into a high-value portfolio of operations delivering critical metals into the market, initially focused on North America.