Mr. Sam Ash reports

BUNKER HILL PROVIDES OCTOBER 2023 RESTART PROJECT UPDATE

Bunker Hill Mining Corp. has provided an update on restart project activities during Q3 of 2023.

Join Richard Williams, Sam Ash and Tom Francis for a live virtual event from Bunker Hill site as they unveil the monumental upgrade to the Russell portal, along with providing a general update from the field, on Oct. 24, at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET.

Project advancing on time and budget:

• Mining:
  • Russell portal dimensions enlarged to enable underground (UG) mechanized mining rates of 1,800 tonnes per day to 2,500 tpd;
  • Wardner operating yard, adjacent to the Russell portal and the hub for UG mining operations, connected to electrical power grid;
  • Wardner operating yard footprint increased via redistribution of waste from Russell portal upgrade.
• Processing:
  • Bunker Hill operating yard prepared for start of construction of new processing plant;
  • Final process plant engineering 95 per cent complete;
  • Tailings facility and paste backfill plant advanced in partnership with Tierra Group and Ausenco.
• People:
  • Site team augmented with recruitment of maintenance planner, chief geologist and site controller;
  • Gerbrand Van Heerden, new chief financial officer, starts in role around the beginning of November.

Next steps:

• UG upgrade of ventilation, ramp access, power and construction of UG maintenance shop;
• Geotechnical stabilization work for process plant construction to be complete through Q4 2023;
• Publication of PEA (preliminary economic assessment) for 2,500 tpd operation (Bunker 2.0) during Q4 2023.

Mr. Ash, chief executive officer, said: "The execution of our Bunker 1.0 (1,800 tpd) restart project remains on time and budget, and is testament to the leadership and skill of the team. This allows us to focus on other value-creating opportunities, including the Bunker 2.0 (2,500 tpd) mine plan, which will be shared with the market during Q4 2023."

A fit-for-purpose base for mining operations

During the course of August and September, the Wardner operating yard, the base for Bunker Hill's mining operations, underwent a significant transformation. This included the removal of the old, prefabricated concrete (10-foot by 10-foot) portal and its replacement with upsized steel arch sets (16 feet by 16 feet) supported with bespoke lagging. This enlarged Russell portal supports the planned 1,800 tpd operation with significant additional upside capacity, and allows easy access/egress for the mine and its fleet of 20-plus-ton trucks and four-to-six-yard loaders. Whilst this work was under way, executed by GMS Mine Repair & Maintenance, based out of Maryland, the Bunker Hill team also completed procurement of a new 300 hp (horsepower) Beckwith & Kuffel compressor, and a seven-foot 400 hp mainline fan (and starter), both of which will be installed before the end of the year.

Additional activity in support of mining operations during this period included the following:

• The refurbishment on site of multiple electrical transformers by Industrial Support Service LLC;
• Rehabilitation of the surface warehouse and workshop at Wardner;
• The rehabilitation and insertion of ladders into a 100-foot section of the Cherry raise that ensures the mine will have not one but two secondary escape ways (or a tertiary escape-way option) when in operation;
• A substantial increase in yard laydown area due to the tactical dumping of waste from the portal work.

Connection to mainline power

In parallel with the portal upgrade, Bunker Hill also partnered with Avista Utilities and Wilson Construction Co. to connect the Wardner footprint with mainline power. This work, now completed, equips the site with 1.85 MW (megawatts) of electricity, generated through the hydroelectric-dominated supply of the Pacific Northwest, at rates of below six cents per kwh (kilowatt-hour) as the operation gets under way, and below five cents per kwh as cumulative electrical usage ramps up and the operation falls into the highest-usage category. This is a significant milestone for Bunker Hill's operating cost base and, for the first time, gets the site away from an almost exclusive reliance on diesel generators at Wardner.

Processing and tailings facilities

Engineering of the main process plant is advancing on schedule, with deep pier establishment scheduled to commence in the next month as part of geotechnical stabilization and preparation of the land for the construction of the process plant itself. All main civil, structural and mechanical outputs are on target to be at IFC before year-end, and long-lead procurement has resulted in purchase orders having already been issued for the pre-engineered metal building (PEMB), ore silo, conveyors, ball mill starter motor, thickeners tanks and inching drive. Refurbishment of the Pend Oreille mill equipment, the source of the overwhelming majority of mill components, is now under way in the refurbished motor barn on site.

The Bunker Hill team hosted an on-site visit by Ausenco, which is leading on the design and engineering of the filtration plant and paste plant, on Oct. 3 to Oct. 4, 2023. This visit identified the potential for some pre-existing structures in Wardner to be repurposed to help house the paste plant. Tierra Group International, which is leading on the dry stack design and engineering, the second part of Bunker Hill's dual-tailings solution, has started to issue preliminary designs for a life-of-mine facility on the Bunker Hill footprint. Further geotechnical work in support of these designs is scheduled to commence on Oct. 18, 2023.

Recruiting

The team continues a careful upward recruiting trajectory and is currently onboarding a maintenance planner, chief geologist and site controller. Additional mine engineering personnel are coming on board in early 2024. Further to a previous management update (Aug. 14, 2023), the new CFO is expected to start on or around the beginning of November.

Qualified person

Scott E. Wilson, CPG, president of RDA and a consultant to the company, is an independent qualified person, as defined by National Instrument 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 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.

We seek Safe Harbor.