BKB completes acquisition of high grade US silver project
Our 2025 Small Cap Pick of the Year Black Bear Minerals (ASX: BKB) just completed the acquisition of the Shafter Silver project in Texas, USA.
BKB also just changed its name - previously it was James Bay Minerals (ASX: JBY).
BKB now owns two projects in the US outright:
- Independence Gold Project (next door to 240k oz gold per year producer N.G.M) with a 1.37M ounce gold resource located in Nevada, USA. Our latest article on that: JBY: +95% gold recoveries from high grade “skarn” resource
- The Shafter project contains a 17.5Moz @ 259g/t silver foreign resource estimate plus includes ~$150M in site infrastructure and we wrote more on the acquisition here (before the name change): Our 2025 Next Investors Small Cap Pick of the Year: James Bay Minerals (ASX: JBY).
BKB raised $30M as part of the acquisition and plans to have drill programs on both assets starting over the next few months.
At the Shafter Silver project BKB will be looking to extend the existing foreign resource estimate, while also converting it to JORC status.
We are hoping to see the blue areas from the image below get drilled out:
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The project sits on the Sierra Madre belt, which extends from Mexico and contains some of the worlds largest silver miners, this includes $8.4BN capped First Majestic Silver which sits over the border in Mexico.
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The acquisition comes at a time when recently the US Department Of Interior added silver to its critical minerals list…
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With silver now on the critical minerals list the likelihood of a silver project inside US borders (like BKB’s) receiving funding and/or support is a lot higher…
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This may be a catalyst for the US to start putting a higher focus on ensuring local silver projects get off the ground or increase output, have reduced red tape and also more favourable funding avenues.
What else is BKB up to?
BKB is also developing the Independence Gold Project in Nevada which has a 1.37M ounce gold resource split between:
- Shallow resource 384k ounces gold
- Deep resource 984k ounces gold.
Check out our most recent article on this project: JBY: +95% gold recoveries from high grade “skarn” resource
This project is adjoining the N.G.M Phoenix Mine complex, a joint venture between $140BN Newmont and $96BN Barrick Gold.
BKB is currently awaiting the next round of drilling where it will be focusing on the southern targets that sit outside the current mineral resource.
There is also old deep diamond drilling cores that were never assayed for gold that could be a quick way to see if there are any signs of gold deep underground.
We also await drilling to commence at Rebel Peak on the North East of the project now that the access road here has been completed (source) so drilling can commence on high priority targets in the area.
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What do we want to see next from BKB?
We recently launched a new BKBInvestment Memo which you can read here.
Here are the four objectives we are tracking across BKB’s assets:
Objective #1: Drilling at BKB’s US silver project
We want to see BKB drill out, extend and then define a JORC resource estimate over its silver project in Texas, USA.
Milestones
🔲 Sampling to identify drill targets
🔲 Drilling commenced
🔲 Assay results
Objective #2: Maiden JORC resource estimate at US silver project
We want to see BKB upgrade and convert its 17.5M ounce foreign resource estimate at its US silver project into JORC compliance. We are looking for the resource to get bigger during the conversion process, whilst maintaining a relatively high grade.
Milestones
🔲 Maiden resource estimate
🔲 Increase to the resource size
Objective #3: Resource upgrade on US gold project
We want to see BKB drill out and upgrade the resource at its US gold project in Nevada.
Milestones
✅ Drilling started
🔄 Assay results
🔄 Resource upgrade
Objective #4: Permitting and feasibility studies on both projects
Ultimately, we want to see BKB take both assets through the permitting process and into development. For the US gold project we want to see permitting and economic studies. For the silver project we want to see full permitting and a mine restart study get completed.
Milestones
🔲 Permitting for US silver project
🔲 Permitting for US gold project
🔲 Economic studies on US gold project
🔲 Economic studies on US silver project
