Washington Mine
Idaho, USA

The report below was prepared by Nick Barr, P.Geo, a consultant to SBMI. He has visited the Washington Mine site on many occasions and has carried out work there. The Board of SBMI requested him to provide an overall perspective on the Washington Mine and suggestions for further work. The four pages below is an edited version of that perspective. It is not NI43-101 compliant and should not be relied upon by anyone other than the Board until further work is carried out at the Washington Mine. It is posted here for transparency as to the Board’s thought process for attacking the Washington Mine.

 

Washington Mine – Idaho, USA

 

Following purchase of the patented, 118 acre Washington Mine property in December, 2020, Silver Bullet Mines Corp. (SBMI) conducted geologic mapping and sampling, grid soil geochemistry, and prepared staging areas for pending underground rehab and bulk sampling.

Efforts also focused on securing permits, lining up contractors, cutting timber for mine support, and access road improvements. Geologic interpretation of field data is ongoing, and SBMI remains very encouraged with initial findings. Evidence continues to support that historical accounts of previously mined grades, and the presence of strongly mineralized parallel vein structures are accurate.

 

Core members of Silver Bullet’s technical team developed a keen interest in the property more than 8 years ago when an old prospector shared a 1981, uncirculated geologic report on the Washington Mine. At the time the report was authored, the property owner was actively mining and direct shipping silver-gold ore to the Hecla Smelter in northern Idaho. While mining was in progress, the geologist describes sampling the working face over a width of 5 ft which returned 42.3 opt Ag and .06 opt Au. This grade of shipped ore is also supported by a smelter receipt copy from the same time period, showing a smelter payout at 44 opt Ag. The report author further describes sampling a ‘high grade’ vein center of unknown width, which returned 396.3 opt Ag and .19 opt Au. Remnants of stockpiled ore are still present near the Washington adit portal, including segregated boulders of dense, high grade vein material, providing tentative evidence that this portion of the vein ranged in thickness from about 10 to 14 inches. In hand specimen, elevated argentite with local plates and wires of native silver can be observed. Verbal accounts from people who were present while mining was in progress, report that 4 lots of ore were shipped, but that operations ceased upon the unexpected death of the owner.

 

SBMI acknowledges that early stage exploration efforts, to a large degree, have been guided by historical and verbal descriptions of geologic setting, location and dimensions of implied ore grade material, and that all historical observations and reporting will need to be verified. The company also acknowledges that it is unknown whether any or all referenced historical reporting may have been conducted under the supervision of a ‘Qualified Person’ as defined by NI43-101. To date, geologic investigations conducted by the company, as to location, geologic setting and tenor of ore, has determined historical reference information to be credible and accurate.

 

HISTORY

 

The Boise Basin of Idaho, situated a relatively short distance northeast of present day Boise, was the site of a notable gold rush in the early to mid 1860’s. Production figures vary, but some accounts suggest total Boise Basin placer production of up to 12,000,000 ounces, with some drainages described as ‘extraordinarily rich’. Sporadic floating dredge operations continued up through the 1950’s. Discovery and development of fissure vein lode gold deposits closely followed, including the past producing Subrosa and Washington, which are located on SBMI’s patented ground.

 

Production of 15,000 and 6000 ozs Au, at grades close to 1 opt and to a depth of 160 and 400 ft respectively, are reported from the Subrosa and Washington. Ore from both mines was treated by a stamp constructed in close proximity. Examination of the Washington Mine in the late 1890’s (Lindgren, 1897), to the 300 ft level, included notes of a silver vein having been exposed in cross cuts on all levels, and that it was positioned about 40 ft from the gold structure. The USGS geologist further notes that sampling of the silver vein returned values ranging from 33 to 90 opt Ag, over widths of 1 to 4 ft, but the ore was not exploited because it could not be treated with the present mill available. Lindgren also comments that the silver represented an interesting and unusual occurrence in the District.

 

WASHINGTON-SUBROSA HISTORICAL NOTES

 

R.C. Stoker (1981), who authored his report at the time the owner of the Washington was direct shipping ore, had acquired a number of unpublished historical references spanning the time period between 1916 to 1929, which also included various development notes dating back to about 1904. Reference material cited by Stoker, included correspondence between mine foremen and owners, and three separate mine engineer sampling and assessment reports related to the Washington silver vein, conducted between 1916 and 1929. By 1927, development on the Washington patent group totaled in excess of 13,000 ft, including a 2300 ft long cross drainage tunnel which served to drain workings just below the 400 ft level, directly underneath the Washington Mine portal.

 

Mining efforts shortly after the turn of the century, were focused on locating more gold ore, and did result in some additional ore being developed, but at a depth of 400 ft., the silver and gold structure intercepted, and only silver ore persisted to depth. Development work that followed, focused on the silver vein, which in total, had been investigated and sampled on 7 levels to a depth of 565 ft. Several of the mining engineer notes also reference a zone of secondary enrichment that was encountered at a depth of 450 ft., including reference to a 7 ft wide vein sample returning 142 opt Ag and .19 Au, and another sample from the same level returning 3000 opt Ag and 2.25 opt Au. Construction of a mill, capable of treating silver ore, was completed by 1927, but in the same year, the price of silver dropped to 47 cents/oz, and a 

decision followed to suspend operations until prices improved. The mine remained on care and maintenance for a short period but based on several site visits during the 1930’s by USGS geologists, the mine was idle and mine entrances were no longer open. Based on close examination of the property, SBMI geologists were able to confirm that there is no evidence of any amount of silver ore ever having been processed on site.

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Of particular interest to SBMI, are a number of references made to mineralized structures encountered and sampled in the course of the extensive development work conducted up through 1927.

 

The cross cut drainage tunnel, connecting to the 400 ft level of the Washington shaft and continuing beyond, encountered 3 additional parallel silver structures similar in character to the Washington silver vein, a large oxidized structure containing both gold and silver values, and a showing interpreted to be the down dip extension of the Subrosa gold chute. At least two of these structures are interpreted to outcrop within the patent boundaries, and are being actively investigated. Mineralization referenced by mine engineers, that was examined and sampled at the time of early development, present highly prospective exploration targets, and which are of particular interest to Silver Bullet Mines, are as follows;

 

-Subrosa silver vein, interpreted to run parallel to (?) or possibly be the westerly strike extension of the Washington silver vein (?), was historically sampled roughly 400 ft below surface returning grades similar to the Washington. Two surface exposures are described in mine engineer notes but have not yet been located. A reference plotted on a 1925 patent survey map shows a small adit with an exposure of native silver, roughly 300 ft along projected strike of the Washington silver vein. An additional reference reports a silver vein surface exposed within 150 ft of the old Subrosa gold workings. Both of these reported showings have not yet been located.

 

-Big South Vein, described underground as highly oxidized over 10 to 12 ft, and hosting both gold and silver values. Elevated MnOx suggesting strong potential for enrichment at depth. Unclear if structure outcrops within confines of patents, but surface trace of this structure appears to have been tentatively located on Subrosa patent at end of work season.

 

-Blue Dick silver vein, described as being encountered at far north edge of development crosscut with silver values similar to Washington. Vein is surface exposed on adjacent claim holdings, but SBMI mapping tentatively showing structure to strike (?) onto patented ground.

 

-Of particular interest, is reference to a gold structure encountered in excess of 400 ft below the Subrosa gold chute, which was only mined to a depth of 160 ft where ore zone was cut off by a mafic dike. Early notes on the Subrosa describe an ore chute 4 to 5 ft wide and 150 ft long, that averaged 1 opt Au, including some very high grade ore. Total early production was 15,000 ozs Au. During 1920’s, two mining engineers reference sampling this vein at depth at very end of a development drift, returning values of .19 to .31 and .15 to .42 opt Au over 4.5 ft. Both engineers clearly interpreted vein exposure to represent the down dip extension of the Subrosa gold chute.

 

Reference to the ‘Berger’ gold vein appears to date back to about 1904, during early efforts to block additional gold ore on the Washington. Though a copy of the report is not available, several of the early mining engineers cite reference to Berger’s report, which describes a gold ore zone located about 90 ft south and running parallel to the Washington gold vein. Berger apparently describes having sampled approximately .3 opt Au over a 22-25 width, in a chute 135 ft long. The zone is further described as being exposed in the ‘upper level’ of the old workings. SBMI is particularly intrigued with this reported gold zone, as 2021 grid soil sampling did yield a strong gold-in-soil anomaly ranging up to 9 ppm, right where indicated in the Berger reference.

 

SILVER BULLET MINES INC. IDAHO PROJECT EXPLORATION STRATEGY

 

In keeping with original key goals of the company, SBMI feels the Washington property clearly presents an excellent opportunity to achieve early term production, all while systematically exploring a number of highly prospective gold and silver targets.

 

At present, the portal of the Washington Mine is open to where a cave blocks passage about 30 ft inside. Beyond this cave, it is estimated to be only about 90 ft to where silver ore was being mined in 1981. A primary goal of the pending work season will be to gain access to the Washington silver chute and commence with a bulk sampling program. Close to the Washington ore chute and showing on old mine plan maps, is a caved (?) cross cut trending south, right to where the surface documented ‘Berger’ gold chute should be exposed, (and directly below the gold-in-soil anomaly discovered by SBMI). Opening this cross cut will be included in underground rehab planning, which would additionally allow for establishing underground drill stations to test both the Washington and Berger structures at depth. Having workings opened would further allow for investigation of several of Lindgren’s (1897) notes of interest. Included is his reporting, are descriptions of the silver values continuing in an easterly direction beyond the Washington Gold chute, and also that another gold-silver showing exists roughly 200 ft beyond the mined Washington gold ore body. Supporting Lindgren’s assertion that another gold-silver zone exists along strike are surface workings discovered this season by SBMI, that do plot vertically above mineralization cited by Lindgren.

 

An additional, next season exploration goal of SBMI will be to continue with expansion of grid soil geochemistry coverage over both the Berger gold-in-soil discovery, and also to test report described silver vein showings to the west on the Subrosa patent. It is envisioned that systematic trenching would follow up any soil discoveries. Given the strong potential that unmined portions for Subrosa gold chute have been identified, efforts will also be directed toward detailed mapping of the Subrosa in addition to preparing for drill testing the indicated, down dip extension of the Subrosa gold chute.