In the junior mining space, it’s often very difficult to take a slow and measured approach to things. Capital availability ebbs and flows with the markets, as does investor patience. You never want to run out of working capital when you have no news flow or the next equity raise could be very painful, and possibly very dilutive. And that assumes you can even find enough interest to raise that capital. However, if a company has surrounded itself with a tolerant investor base, then that patience can be rewarded when capital is finally spent on drilling and the results reflect all that timely, upfront work.

Hercules Silver Project in Idaho, USA

To me, it appears this strategy is starting to pay off for Hercules Silver Corp. (TSXV: BIG | OTCQB: BADEF), at least based on the stock chart over the last six months as its price has more than doubled. Hercules Silver (formerly Bald Eagle Gold Corp.) is a junior mining company focused on the exploration and development of the 100% owned Hercules Silver Project, northwest of Cambridge, Idaho. The Hercules project is a disseminated silver-lead-zinc system with 28,000 meters of historical drilling across 3.5 kilometers of strike. Although there are many signals indicating there could be plenty of copper to be found on the property as well, but more on that later.

In 2022, the Company elected to conserve capital and complete extensive modern field surveys in order to increase the efficiency of the drill targeting. To that end, Hercules Silver undertook an extensive bedrock mapping and sampling program, as well as a 3D induced polarization (IP) survey to help refine drill targets on the Property, including extensions of the known mineralization at Hercules Adit and Frogpond. The Company collected over 800 rock chip samples to identify the source of soil anomalies on the Property and found widespread silver, lead, zinc, and copper values.

Highlights include grades up to 21% copper at the Big Cut Skarn and 2,810 g/t silver in the untested Grade Creek Zone (keeping in mind that rock chip samples are selective and may not represent true grades). But the big surprise came from the IP survey where an unexpectedly large and strong anomaly appeared beneath the limit of historical drilling.

Large Untested Chargeability Anomaly at Depth Beneath the Hercules Adit, Frogpond, and Belmont Zones on the Hercules Property

When the initial drill program commenced in November 2022, the Company elected to utilize a small, track-mounted drill rig in order to be capital efficient while collecting samples near the surface. However, this drill rig lacked the power and rod size needed for drilling deeper into the difficult ground, which resulted in Phase I drilling having multiple holes bottoming in mineralization or not reaching the target depth including that giant anomaly noted above. Nevertheless, there were some encouraging results:

• Drill hole HER-22-01, the first hole of the program, intercepted 38 meters of 353 g/t Ag, 0.64% Pb, 2.28% Zn, and 0.16% Cu (487 g/t AgEq), beginning at a shallow depth of 26 m.
• Drill hole HER-22-07 intersected 44.2 m grading 224 g/t Ag, 0.32% Pb, 0.38% Zn, and 0.09% Cu (258 g/t AgEq) starting at just 1.5 m.

The results achieved by this 9-hole program are in line with historically reported grades and widths and provide the Company with confidence in the large-scale exploration potential at Hercules moving forward. Additionally, it indicates that Hercules Silver could potentially incorporate large volumes of previous drilling data (over 28,000 meters of drilling in over 300 historical drill holes) into future resource calculations adding significant value to the project given the substantial replacement cost of this information.

Phase II Drill Program Set to Begin

This all sets the stage for a 3,000-meter Phase II core drilling program that is scheduled for spring 2023. The Company has gained in-depth geological information to further delineate existing zones and test the conceptual model of a zoned porphyry copper-epithermal system at Hercules. And the best part is, Hercules Silver is moving past the “dipping their toe in the water” stage and is going forward with a core rig capable of deep drilling to provide more robust geological and structural information than RC methods. A newer coring technology, triple tube core barrels will be employed with the added bonus of improving recoveries within mineralized zones.

As you can see, patience is starting to pay off for Hercules Silver as their drill programs become more targeted and potentially more impactful. Being able to drill the deeper targets will determine if their theories hold water, which in turn could reward those patient shareholders.

Hercules Silver trades at a market cap of C$33.5 million.

In this InvestorIntel interview, Tracy Weslosky talks to Hercules Silver Corp.’s (TSXV: BIG | OTCQB: BADEF) CEO and Director Chris Paul about delineating a large mineral system at their Hercules Property located in western Idaho. Chris discusses how their 2022 rock chip sampling program identified a widespread silver-lead-zinc-copper system, with up to 2,810 g/t silver and 21% copper in previously untested targets.

Located in one of the top jurisdictions in the world for mining, Chris provides an update on the Phase 1 drill program at their Hercules Property.

To access the full InvestorIntel interview, click here

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About Hercules Silver Corp.

Hercules Silver Corp. is a junior mining company focused on the exploration and development of the 100% owned Hercules Silver Project, northwest of Cambridge, Idaho.

The Hercules project is a disseminated silver-lead-zinc system with 28,000 meters of historical drilling across 3.5 kilometers of strike. The Company is well positioned for growth through the drill bit in 2023, having completed extensive surface exploration in 2022 consisting of soil & rock sampling, geological mapping, IP geophysics, and a 9-hole drill program.

The Company’s management team brings significant exploration experience through the discovery and development of numerous precious metals projects worldwide.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. Any securities referred to herein have not and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act“) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws of an exemption from such registration is available.

To know more about Hercules Silver Corp., click here

Disclaimer: Hercules Silver Corp. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].

As we begin the second half of 2022, I’m hopeful that markets will dial back the volatility a little and we can start looking for stocks without fear of huge retracement on the slightest bad news. The last few weeks and months have certainly reset investors perspective on valuations. It would be hard to say that stocks are priced for perfection right now. In my opinion there are a lot of high quality stocks that are looking very reasonably priced, but this ten seconds I’m not confident enough to load up on anything until we see the VIX drop into the low 20’s or high teens, and it would also be nice if the U.S. Federal Reserve weren’t pounding the table on several more 50 basis point or more rate hikes in the near future. Whether this happens or not, we still need to look for interesting stories that will hopefully benefit at some point in time in the future, once the market sorts out where we are when it comes to inflation and/or recession fears. Until then, the question will remain when to potentially buy these interesting stories.

One interesting story, albeit a slightly confusing one, is Bald Eagle Gold Corp. (TSXV: BIG | OTCQB: BADEF). Despite its current name, which is in the process of being changed, it is actually a silver-copper story. The Company came into being in March, 2021 with the completion of the qualifying transaction and subsequent amalgamation of CX One Inc. and Frontera Gold Inc. This resulted in the principal asset of the Company being a 50% interest in the Hot Springs Gold project located between the Battle Mountain and Getchell Comstock Gold-Trend in north-central Nevada.

However, it didn’t take long for Bald Eagle to diversify its holdings substantially when in April, 2021 it announced a binding letter of intent to acquire the right and title to the Hercules Silver Property located in Washington County, Idaho. The transaction to acquire the 100% interest in the Hercules Property closed on August 10^th followed by the sale of its 50% joint venture interest in the Hot Springs property for US$1.27 million in early October. And voila – Bald Eagle Gold is now a prospective silver play. A subsequent transaction in November, 2021 resulted in the Company acquiring a 100% interest in the Leviathan Property located immediately east of, and adjoining the Company’s Hercules silver property in Idaho. Bald Eagle’s total land position is now 4,246 acres in this highly prospective area.

So what’s the big deal about the Hercules Silver Property? Over 300 historic drill holes have been completed on the project between 1965 and 1988, defining two zones (Hercules Adit & Fishpond) of continuous mineralization at shallow depth and 4 other near-surface developed targets along strike. However, when the price of silver collapsed in the mid-80s it resulted in 1988 being the last hole drilled at Hercules. A historical IP survey over the Hercules Adit, Fishpond and Grade Creek generated the best drill target on the property in 1987, which was never followed up. A chargeability anomaly at Grade Creek well exceeds the size and tenor of Hercules Adit and Fishpond, which indicates a large body of near-surface sulfide mineralization. All this suggests the best may be still to come for the Hercules project which will hopefully be proven up by a 2,000+ m drill program that is anticipated to begin this month.

But there’s more to this play than just silver. In mid-June the Company announced its interpretation of 2021 soil sampling data, and reported a new 2-kilometer diameter copper soil anomaly, immediately adjacent to the CRD-style silver-lead-zinc mineralization. Select grab samples grading up to 8.2% copper and 246 g/t silver were collected from within the new zone by soil sampling crews and Company geologists who noted the presence of abundant copper oxide staining of outcrops and a strongly altered corridor of phyllic alteration. As a result of this exciting new anomaly, an additional 990 soil samples were collected in May of this year.

As noted earlier, the Company is in the process of changing it’s name to Hercules Metals Corporation, with the hopes that the recent copper discovery is as prospective as their silver mineralization. As well, it just raised C$2.3 million to help fund the upcoming drilling program and ongoing exploration activities. With a current market cap of only C$ 14.7 million, a few good drill holes could make shareholders of Bald Eagle/Hercules a pretty happy group.

I was all geared up to write a story about a junior gold miner today based on the company name but upon digging a little deeper I found that after a couple of transactions it’s now a silver play. Correspondingly, I was prepared to take another stab at gold technicals and the price impact on the underlying equites. Instead, we are now talking about silver where my trading history in silver stocks is less than stellar to say the least. When silver got caught up in the Reddit meme stock frenzy, I thought I’d take advantage of the volatility by buying the underlying stocks and selling at, or even in the money covered calls for huge premiums. I collected those huge premiums but proceeded to learn a valuable lesson on how fast the liquidity in meme stocks can dry up and how hard they can fall. In fact, the silver names I participated in fell much further than where they were trading before the meme frenzy took hold leaving me well down on my overall trade, despite all the call premiums I collected. With that said, I still believe in the underlying fundamentals of the commodity itself and have confidence that as an industrial metal that is part of the technology revolution, silver will soar again. I just don’t know how long I’ll have to wait to get back to break even.

But enough about me, let’s have a look at Bald Eagle Gold Corp. (TSXV: BIG). As noted above, the Company came into being in March, 2021 with the completion of the qualifying transaction and subsequent amalgamation of CX One Inc. and Frontera Gold Inc. This resulted in the principal asset of the Company being a 50% interest in the Hot Springs Gold project located between the Battle Mountain and Getchell Comstock Gold-Trend in north-central Nevada. However, it didn’t take long for Bald Eagle to diversify its holdings substantially when on April 26, 2021, it announced a binding letter of intent to acquire the right and title to the Hercules Silver Property located in Washington County, Idaho. The transaction to acquire the 100% interest in the Hercules Property closed on August 10^th followed by the sale of its 50% joint venture interest in the Hot Springs property for US$1.27 million in early October. And voila, Bald Eagle Gold is now a prospective silver play.

A subsequent transaction in November, 2021 resulted in the Company acquiring a 100% interest in the Leviathan Property located immediately east of and adjoining the Company’s Hercules silver property in Idaho. The deal expands Bald Eagle’s total land position to 2,209 acres in this highly prospective area. Which begs the question, what makes this area highly prospective? Well let me tell you.

Six mineralized areas have been identified along the 10,000 feet (3,048 metres) of Hercules rhyolite underlying the length of the Property. Following earliest drilling (1965) near the Hercules Adit, surface drilling, guided by soil geochemistry, made it clear that anomalous silver greater than one ounce per ton is widespread in the Hercules rhyolite. Between 1965 and 1988 work by eight companies resulted in thirteen drill programs and about 1,045 feet (319 metres) of lateral underground advance. The drill programs produced 28 core holes, 43 underground percussion holes and 236 reverse circulation rotary holes. Select results from the Hercules Adit Area of the Property, include:

Source: Bald Eagle Gold Corp. website

The addition of the Leviathan property provides a much larger land package of prospective ground on which to explore and expand the currently known mineralization. Historical surface sampling indicates that the silver (+/- lead-zinc) mineralization on the Hercules Property extends onto the northern portion of Leviathan. Significant copper mineralization is also present within the volcanic rocks at surface on Leviathan, suggesting a potential porphyry copper system may be present at depth. Highlights from the Big Cut prospect located in the southeast of the property include:

Source: Bald Eagle Gold Corp. Nov 16, 2021 Press Release

The Company’s stated strategy is to build precious metal resources in recognized mining‐friendly jurisdictions and the Fraser Institute ranks Idaho ninth for exploration and mining investment out of 77 locations around the world. So that box is ticked. Disposition of the Hot Springs gold working interest increases the available capital pool to roughly C$2 million to begin exploration of the Hercules/Leviathan property. With a current market cap of just over C$10 million, a few good drill holes could make for some exciting times at Bald Eagle Gold Corp.