Bunker Hill poised to trade on TSXV, shares rally
Bunker Hill Mining Corp. [BNKR-CSE, BHLL-OTCQB] said it has received conditional approval to list its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange. The company said it expects the shares to begin trading on the Venture Exchange around September 8 2023 under the symbol BNKR.
Bunker Hill shares advanced on the news, rising 6.90% or $0.01 to 15.5 cents in light trading activity. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 28 cents and $0.085.
Meanwhile, Bunker Hill said a U.S. exchange listing is to be explored as part of its growth strategy.
Bunker Hill said it intends to develop the Bunker Hill Mine in Idaho as a first step in consolidating a portfolio of North American precious metal assets with a focus on silver. In press release on July 27, 2023, the company said that concurrent with finalizing the engineering of the processing plant, it has now restarted construction work on site, and is now on schedule and budget to restart mining operations by the end of 2024.
Production at the historical Bunker Hill Mine began in 1885 and ran for 95 years. It was a lead metal mine with silver and zinc produced as a by-product. The mine produced over 42 million tonnes, yielding more than 165 million ounces of silver, 3.0 million tonnes of lead and 1.3 million tonnes of zinc.
During its long history, over 40 separate mineralized zones were exploited. Of those, 13 were high grade silver orebodies.
The mine is situated in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District, a region that has yielded historic silver production of over 1.2 billion ounces, with the Bunker Hill Mine accounting for nearly 15% of the historic silver production.
In September, 2021, Bunker Hill released the results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), which contemplated a US$44 million initial capital cost (including 20% contingency) to rapidly restart the mine over an 18-month period. The PEA envisaged generating approximately $25 million of annual average free cash flow over an extended 11-year-mine life while producing nearly 1.0 billion zinc equivalent pounds of metal, including over 8.0 million ounces of silver.
The company said the majority of the initial capital costs are related to the cost of the process plant, shaft and tunnel rehabilitation. It predicted that production could commence six months after the start of construction at a rate of 200 tons per day, ramping up to 1,000 tons per day within six months.
Bunker Hill was in the news earlier this year when it secured equity investments worth approximately $7.3 million, following the closing of a private placement and the exercise of warrants by Teck Resources Ltd. (TECK.B-TSX, TECK.A-TSX, TECK-NYSE). The company said it intends to use part of the net proceeds for expenses related to the Bunker Hill mine.