Overview

In 1864, the discovery of placer gold led to an initial gold rush in southwestern Montana. Silver mining commenced in the 1870s, when precious metals were discovered at or near the surface in the Rainbow Lode Deposit. More than 50 shafts were eventually sunk in the Butte Property area, four of which remain intact on the Rainbow Block. After the silver panic of 1892-1893 and the electrification of the country, the primary metal of interest in the Butte area shifted to copper.

Copper mining began as early as 1866; however, with little economic value at the time and no easy treatment for mineralized material, copper recovery was not a focus until the end of the 19 th century. At that time, Marcus Daly formed the Anaconda Company ultimately purchasing most of the mining properties in the area. Initially, Anaconda mined both copper-bearing and zinc-silver-lead bearing veins. During the World Wars, manganese-rich veins were also mined, making a significant contribution to America’s wartime armaments. Between 1916 and 1967, Anaconda’s operations in the zinc-dominant areas of the Butte District mined over 22 million tons of mineralized material. Zinc mining began to wane when labour issues and falling metal prices forced mine closure and zinc mining ceased at Butte in 1967.

Open pit mining in Butte began in the Berkley Pit in 1955 and continued through 1982. Mining of the Continental Pit, located adjacent to the Property, began in 1980. In 1976, Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) purchased Anaconda and ceased Anaconda’s Butte mining operations in 1983. In 1985, Montana industrialist Dennis Washington purchased the Anaconda properties in Butte from ARCO. Washington assigned the copper-molybdenum porphyry to Montana Resources and the peripheral silver-zinc-lead-gold vein assets to a network of smaller business entities to manage (Montana Mining Properties).

In 1987, a portion of the periphery silver-zinc-lead-gold vein assets, including the Rainbow Block, was leased to New Butte Mining Co. New Butte commenced small scale operations in 1988; however, low commodity prices combined with a higher transportation costs and custom milling resulted in a cessation of operations in 1991.

The Rainbow Block, Marget Ann Block and Travona Blocks were acquired by Ferry Lane Ltd. in 1998. In 2011, Ferry Lane signed a 50-year Lease Agreement with International Silver, a USA domiciled company with ISLV subsequently acquiring the rights to the Lease Agreement. In October 2020, Blackjack Silver entered into an agreement with ISLV entitling Blackjack Silver to earn up to a 75% interest in ISLV’s Lease. In July 2023, ISLV and Blackjack Silver finalized the agreement to combine their interests such that Blackjack Silver now owns a 100% interest the Lease Agreement with Ferry Lane.

Blackjack has incorporated a substantial portion of the historical records from the historical mining operations within the Lease Agreement area into a 3D model of the underground workings and various mineralized bodies. The Company drilled a series of diamond drill holes to confirm the historical records and is current preparing a NI43-101 resource estimate.