Central City Mining District, Colorado

Situated approximately 35 miles west of Denver. Central City is one of the oldest and most productive mining districts in Colorado, having historically produced over 4.13 million ounces of gold and 118.9 million ounces of silver. The Bates Hunter Mine is positioned within the town limits of Central City and Black Hawk, Colorado, encompassing 30 patented lode mining claims and 6 parcels of land, offering both surface and mineral rights. The project area is characterized by rugged mountainous terrain at an elevation of approximately 8,500 feet.

Despite the fragmented land ownership that has previously impeded large-scale development, exploration and mining activities at Bates Hunter have shown great potential. Historical mining in the Bates Vein, which was one of the richest and most productive veins in the area, produced around 154,000 ounces of gold. The mine was primarily restricted to shallow depths, and development has been limited, though significant strides have been made in rehabilitating and dewatering the Bates Hunter shaft, which currently extends to 745 feet.

The Bates Hunter shaft has been dewatered and rehabilitated to its full depth, with a head frame and hoist system in place that is capable of supporting production at rates of up to 200 tons per day. In addition to the mine shaft, supporting infrastructure includes compressors, a water treatment plant, and office and shop facilities. The water treatment plant, with a throughput of over 200,000 gallons per day when needed, effectively manages the mine water inflow, and its capacity may be expanded to facilitate more rapid dewatering and further the mine rehabilitation.

Significant gold mineralization has been identified at multiple levels in the mine, with assays showing encouraging results. On the 300-foot level, samples returned gold grades ranging from 0.34 to 1.8 ounces per ton (opt). On the 700-foot level, ore stopes exposed at widths of up to 4 feet showed gold assays ranging from 0.4 to 4.60 opt. In addition, a 2008 drill program targeted exploration in the hanging and footwall of the Bates Vein, returning an intercept of 1.74 opt gold and 2.87 opt silver over a 1.2-foot interval at a distance of 60.8 feet into the footwall. Recent sampling returned values ranging from 0.92 to 11.7 oz/t gold and 1.32 to 28.2 oz/t silver.

The mineralization in the Bates Hunter Mine is hosted by two types of veins. The first contains high-grade gold, some silver, and elevated levels of copper, arsenic, and molybdenum. The second type consists of fine-grained silver-telluride (hessite) veins associated with chalcedonic quartz and Tertiary intrusive dikes. These veins offer further exploration potential for both gold and silver resources.

The project’s permit status is favorable, with the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety issuing Permit M-90-041, which is currently active. Additional permits for surface exploration, drilling and water discharge have been obtained, allowing for continued mining and environmental compliance.

In summary, the Bates Hunter Mine represents a promising opportunity in a historically rich mining district. With successful rehabilitation efforts, encouraging gold assays, and a well-defined plan for further exploration and development, the Mine is poised for future success as a rich underground mining operation.

The Bates, German and Gregory high grade veins.

There are two varieties of generally east-west trending veins in the Bates Hunter Mine mineralization. The first type contains high-grade gold, some silver, and anomalous copper, arsenic, and molybdenum. The second consists of thin veins of generally Stage 4 mineralization containing very fine-grained black silver-telluride (hessite) and anomalous copper, bismuth, arsenic, antimony, molybdenum and lead. These silver-telluride veins occur next to and parallel with thin tan Tertiary intrusive dikes with tan banded chalcedonic quartz. A 2008 drill program was focused on exploration drill holes to identify the possibility of mineral resources specific to gold and silver in the hanging and footwall of the previously stopped areas in the Bates Hunter Mine. Two horizontal core holes were drilled underground at the 112-foot level of the Bates Hunter shaft into the hanging and footwall in a perpendicular direction to the general trend of the Bates Vein. Samples taken returned a significant intercept with 1.74 oz/t gold and 2.87 oz/t of silver at a distance of 60.8 feet into the footwall, over an interval of 1.2 feet. Additional 2019 sampling of the Bates Vein at various levels ending at the 240 Level returned significant values.