Digbee Limited recently discussed the impact of its third assessment on Bunker Hill Mining Corp (CSE:BNKR) with Jamie Strauss, founder and CEO of Digbee, and Richard Williams, Executive Chairman of Bunker Hill Mining Corp.
Williams highlighted that the assessment has been crucial in refining their procedures and ensuring compliance with ESG standards, which is vital for attracting investment in today's market. He noted that this third assessment has shown progress in their procedures and ethos and has been well-received by the capital markets, which demand high ESG standards.
Stephen Gunnion (Proactive): Hello you're watching Proactive, I'm joined by Digbee founder and CEO Jamie Strauss, as well as Richard Williams, the executive chairman of Bunker Hill Mining. Jamie Richard, very good to speak with you. Richard I'm going to start with you; to what extent has the third Digbee assessment helped Bunker Hill Mining, both strategically and with regards to engagement with different stakeholders?
Richard Williams: Thank you. Up front, it helps a small company or any small company, sharpen its procedures. You know, ESG, it is vital to all mining companies' existence and success. And for a small company like ours, starting a few years ago with limited resources to bring in a team like Digbee that helps us sharpen up our act and look over time as to how we can develop within pace of our resources and within pace of our program has been invaluable.
This is the third of our Digbee assessments. We've seen our progress on site in terms of our procedures, drills, approach, and ethos evolve well. But really importantly, we've seen this be taken, paying attention to, and by that which is also essential to mining companies, which is the capital markets. Without money, you can't build a mine. Money is very discerning these days, and it demands very high ESG standards. So bringing in a group like Digbee that is well networked into those capital markets and across the industry, providing sensible, progressive advice to a company like ours has been essential.
Gunnion: Richard, following on from this assessment, what goals have you set for the next 12 months, and how do you see these adding value from the perspective of investors, communities, and other stakeholders?
Williams: The next 12 months, and shorter than that in fact, is really critical for our company as we take this formerly distressed asset from the development stage into production. As with all mining companies that go through that transition, it's a proof of your thesis, primarily driven by your ability to mine profitably. But you can't mine profitably if you aren't mining safely and with consideration for the environment, the local community, and all the laws, regulations, and expectations of the land within which you're operating.
The next 12 months for us are absolutely critical. It's a critical test for us as a team and for all stakeholders involved in the project, whether they be financial, community, regulatory, or otherwise, to see whether what we believe is possible is indeed possible.
So how will Digbee help us with this? Well, this third report is focused on several things, but one particularly interesting area is the interface between the project and markets, known as governance. We're going to be establishing an ESG, sustainability, or impact committee at the board level. We haven't quite decided on the title of that yet, but it will allow us to better develop the interaction between what's happening on the ground and what we need to happen strategically, and how we communicate that to the market.
Another area is through that vehicle, but also taking direct advice from Digbee and others. There are a series of procedures, approaches, and outlooks to action and communicate that we'll be rolling out. Our team will be expanding from the tens or 20s of full-time employees to 250 full-time employees when we're up and running within the next 12 months, or even sooner.
The impact on the community, a community that has been impoverished since the mines shut in the 1980s, will be enormous. We must carefully manage this potential boom alongside ensuring that any stakeholders concerned about the reintroduction of mining are reassured by our actions and see with full transparency what we're doing, how we're controlling risks, and how this is as low an impact mining operation as possible from a negative sense, but with maximum positive impact.
Gunnion: Jamie, the landscape of sustainability continues to evolve rapidly. How do you see companies such as Bunker Hill Mining differentiating themselves, taking advantage of their efforts to improve transparency, and setting out a journey of continuous improvement?
Strauss: Thanks, Stephen. I'm in the middle of a roadshow with institutions. Can't build a mine without finance; it's a capital-intensive industry, and it's relatively long-term. What's really interesting is the evolution of fund managers' approaches over the last three or four years, despite some negative comments around sustainability or ESG. Now, data shows that 80% of professional fund managers globally have incorporated sustainability into their investment mandates.
The major move forward is how we use that to add value, identify companies embracing sustainability, and therefore benefit from the supply chain and mitigate risk. Companies I've seen this week and last week show a determination to incorporate sustainability into their decision-making processes, especially at the production and development stages.
This is an interesting move because sustainability fits into every aspect of a company, from governance to footprint to engagement with local stakeholders or the supply chain. If we consolidate this into a transparent, credible third-party process, we can raise confidence and trust among stakeholders, including institutional investors, and bring money back into this industry.