Bunker Hill Mining Corp. provided an update on restart project activities during Third Quarter of 2023. 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' x 10') portal and its replacement with upsized steel arch sets (16' x 16') supported with bespoke lagging. This enlarged Russell Portal supports the planned 1800tpd operation with significant additional upside capacity and allows easy access/egress for the mine and its fleet of 20ton+ trucks and 4-6yd Loaders. Whilst this work was underway, executed by GMS Mine Repair & Maintenance based out of Maryland, the Bunker Hill team also completed procurement of a new 300hp Beckwith & Kuffel compressor and a 7ft 400hp 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 100ft section of the Cherry Raise that ensures the mine will have not one but two secondary escapeways (or a tertiary escapeway option) when in operation; and a substantial increase in yard laydown area due to the tactical dumping of waste from the portal work. 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 1.85MW of electricity, generated through the hydroelectric-dominated supply of the Pacific Northwest, at rates of below 6c per kwh as the operation gets underway and below 5c 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. Engineering of the main Process Plant is advancing on track 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 track 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 underway in the refurbished Motor Barn on site. The Bunker Hill team hosted an onsite visit by Ausenco, which is leading on the design and engineering of the Filtration Plant and Paste Plant, on 3-4 October 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 18 October 2023.