Bunker Hill Shareholders Vote to Approve Business Combination With Silver47 Exploration Corp, as Company Completes Drawdowns of Ocean Partners and Teck Facilities Supporting Ramp-Up to Commercial Production by End Q4 2026

Bunker Hill Mining Corp. (BNKR) has received shareholder approval for its proposed business combination with Silver47 Exploration Corp., marking a significant step in the merger process. Stockholders voted 94.69% in favor of the charter amendment and 95.07% in favor of the share issuance, with 27,295,759 shares represented, accounting for approximately 57.82% of issued and outstanding shares. Silver47 holders approved the transaction on October 27, 2026. The closing is expected on or about November 5, 2026, subject to final court and stock exchange approvals.

In an operational update, the company confirmed it is now trucking zinc concentrate to Teck's Trail smelter and lead-silver concentrate via Ocean Partners. Current metrics indicate an average plant throughput of above 1,100 t/day excluding downtime, with lead and zinc recoveries averaging greater than 70%. Mining activity is focused on the UTZ on the 5-Level and part of Cate-8 on the 8-Level. The operation recently extracted its largest long-hole transverse stope to date, yielding 7,000 t from a 60 ft × 40 ft × 50 ft block. The site has recorded 569 days since its last reportable injury, and the company stated it is on track for commercial production by the end of Q4 2026.

Looking ahead to 2027, Bunker Hill plans to update its Resource and Reserve Table to incorporate Cate-8 and other near-mine discoveries by the end of 2026. Ausenco and Tierra Group are currently studying a ramp to 2,500 tpd from 2027, which would involve a new 6,000 ft portal, minor plant enhancements, and dry-stack tailings enhancements. Production guidance for 2027 is also expected by the end of 2026.

Financially, the company confirmed the drawdown of full US$10,000,000 on the Ocean Partners concentrate prepayment facility and the final US$2,000,000 on the Teck standby facility, which has an aggregate limit of US$10,000,000 and is now fully drawn. Total proceeds of US$20,000,000 will be used for mechanical optimization, underground development, and working capital through the first concentrate sales cycles. The Teck drawdown is a related-party transaction relying on the 25% market-cap exemption under MI 61-101.

The release did not provide an update on the Monetary Metals silver loan restructuring, which the Q2-2026 MD&A explicitly flagged as a key near-term risk. Additionally, no cash balance was disclosed, nor was there a statement confirming whether throughput has been sustained at the 1,170 tpd level including downtime, as required by the company's commercial-production definition.

Bunker Hill Mining Corp. (BNKR) has secured the final approval for its merger, a procedural step in the transaction originally announced on August 21, 2026. Voting support agreements had already covered approximately 51.5% of Bunker Hill shares, including holdings by Sprott and Teck, and roughly 6.3% of Silver47, effectively predetermining the outcome. The 95% approval margin confirms the result, with the transaction now scheduled to close on November 5.

The market has already adjusted to the deal’s economics. Bunker Hill’s stock traded at $5.38 on August 20, 2026, before closing at $4.82 on the announcement date, reflecting a negative reaction to the share-funded acquisition at a ~38% premium. The share price has since fallen to $2.96, approximately 25% below the pre-announcement level. While the announced pro forma market capitalization was US$326M—based on 83.3M shares at an implied US$3.91—the current price equates to a market cap of roughly US$246M.

Regarding financing, Bunker Hill confirmed on August 31 that it would draw the remaining US$2M from Teck and US$7M from Ocean Partners in September or October. The company has now drawn US$2M and the full US$10M, exhausting both facilities. According to the Q2-2026 MD&A, cash stood at US$6.7M as of June 30, 2026, with a working capital deficit of US$11.8M. First-half operating cash outflow was US$10.4M, and first-half capital expenditures totaled US$29.7M. The company’s funding runway now relies on the US$20M in new liquidity and first concentrate sales, as the Teck excess was drawn faster and in larger amounts than the August 31 plan implied.

On October 5, 2026, Bunker Hill formally revised its definition of commercial production. The new criteria require throughput of at least 65% of the 1,800 tpd nameplate, or 1,170 t/day, and zinc, lead, and silver recoveries of at least 70%, sustained for 60 consecutive days. This represents a shift from the June 29, 2026 definition, which required 90 days at greater than 65% of 1,800 tpd. The company’s latest release reports throughput "above 1,100 t/day excluding downtime." This phrasing indicates that the all-in rate, which is required by the definition, remains below 1,100 tpd. With roughly two months remaining in the year, the company must start its 60-day clock almost immediately to declare commercial production by December 31.

Metallurgical performance also presents challenges. The release states that lead and zinc recoveries are "averaging >70%," a figure that meets the newly established threshold but falls short of earlier expectations. January 2026 metallurgical testwork indicated expected recoveries of 89% for silver, 87% for lead, and 92% for zinc. Operating at or just above 70% suggests the plant is running roughly 15–20 percentage points below design capacity for two of the three payable metals. Consequently, revenue per tonne processed is below the Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) economics, which already assumed a by-product cash cost of US$0.50/lb Zn payable. The company did not disclose silver recovery rates in this release.

Exploration updates for the Cate-8 target show an increase in tonnage but a decrease in grade. On June 1, 2026, the company guided an exploration target of 50,174–167,821 tonnes at 9.32–5.75 oz/t AgEq. On July 15, this was refined to 337,000 tonnes at 6.17 oz/t, totaling 2.08 moz. By August 31, the target expanded to 522,000 tonnes at 5.34 oz/t, totaling 2.79 moz. While tonnage increased by 55%, grade dropped 13% from the July estimate. The August 31 drill table highlights mostly low-grade bulk intercepts, including 12.5 ft at 2.94 oz/t Ag and 12.6 ft at 1.02 oz/t, alongside a few high-grade individual samples. The Cate-8 target remains an exploration target, not a mineral resource.

The release also notes operational milestones, including throughput above 1,100 tpd, a 7,000 t stope, and 569 days injury-free. However, the company’s forward-looking claims have not yet been met under its own revised definitions, its financing capacity is fully consumed, and it remains silent on the silver loan restructuring.

Bunker Hill Mining Corp. is a U.S.-based developer and operator restarting the historic Bunker Hill Mine in northern Idaho's Silver Valley, located in the Coeur d'Alene district near Kellogg and Wardner. The past-producing zinc-silver-lead mine closed in 1981 after generating approximately 165 moz of silver and over 5 Mt of base metals. The company has constructed a new 1,800 tpd processing plant featuring crushing, grinding, and differential flotation to produce separate lead and zinc concentrates. The flowsheet is designed for expansion to approximately 2,500 tpd with modest incremental capital. Concentrate is trucked approximately 210 km to Teck's Trail smelter, with no penalties cited in the company presentation.

Regarding waste management, filtered tails are placed underground as paste backfill, with a dry-stack facility serving as a backup. The company states that no surface tailings facility is required in the base plan. The site benefits from low-cost power at $0.06/kWh. The land package comprises approximately 6,283.7 acres, expanded by the December 2025 acquisition of Ranger-Page/Blackhawk, which added approximately 1,205 acres containing six past-producing underground mines adjacent to Bunker Hill.

The resource base, sourced from a technical report dated November 21, 2022, effective August 29, 2022, includes Measured and Indicated resources of 7,036 kt at 1.00 oz/t Ag, 2.40% Pb, and 5.44% Zn, containing 7.06 moz Ag. Inferred resources total 6,943 kt at 1.52 oz/t Ag, containing 10.53 moz Ag. Probable reserves stand at 3,200 kt at 1.12 oz/t Ag, 2.59% Pb, and 5.81% Zn, containing 3.59 moz Ag. This reserve data predates the Cate-8 discovery, the Ranger-Page acquisition, and the entire 2026 drill campaign, limiting its relevance to the current mine plan until the guided update is published.

Economic estimates from the 2022 PFS and Bunker 2.0 projections indicate that at 1,800 tpd with a five-year mine life and 652–665 ktpa production, operating expenses are US$67/t. By-product cash costs are US$0.50/lb Zn payable, with an AISC of US$0.77/lb. At 2,500 tpd with a 13-year life and 910 ktpa production, operating expenses drop to US$62/t, cash costs fall to US$0.36/lb, and AISC is US$0.60/lb, requiring approximately US$60M in incremental capex.

Following the Silver47 acquisition, the pro forma portfolio includes Red Mountain in Alaska, with inferred resources of 15.6 Mt at 336 g/t AgEq; Hughes in Nevada, with M&I resources of 10.3 moz AgEq, inferred resources of 32.9 moz AgEq, and 2.74 moz AgEq in tailings; and Mogollon in New Mexico, with inferred resources of 32.1 moz AgEq. The company cites aggregate resources of approximately 80 moz AgEq M&I and 308 moz AgEq inferred.

Investor presentations list Haywood Capital Markets, Red Cloud Securities, and ROTH as covering the company. No analyst target prices, ranges, or ratings are provided in the materials supplied.