Hecla Mining (HL)
Operates three North American underground mines centered on silver, with gold and base-metal by-products.
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Hecla digs rock out of three North American mines, grinds it on site, and sells the metal-rich powder to smelters that turn it into silver, gold, zinc and lead. It has sold its one big gold mine, cleared its debts, and pointed itself at silver. Two long-running mines pay for everything; the newest one, in the Yukon, is the growth promise that keeps slipping.
Item facts: FY2025 · year ended Dec 31, 2025 (three mines), from filings, earnings calls and company pages.
Judgment weights, not filed revenue
The band summarizes business focus and direction. ~ marks estimates.
6 in detail · 15 more below
Greens Creek
The engine of the company: an island mine in Alaska where the gold, zinc and lead pay the bills so completely that producing last quarter's silver cost less than nothing — minus $17 an ounce. Watch permits and room for waste rock.
Competes with La Colorada (Pan American Silver) · Red Dog (Teck Resources) · Saucito (Fresnillo)
In plain English
Admiralty Island, Alaska: an underground mine whose rock carries four metals at once — silver, gold, zinc and lead. Hecla grinds it on site into a heavy grey powder that is mostly metal, and everything leaves by sea.
Smelters and metal traders buy that powder, pay for the metal inside it, and subtract a fee for doing the melting and refining. Because the gold, zinc and lead in the same load fetch so much, they cover the cost of digging on their own — which is how a quarter's silver can end up costing less than nothing. Three buyers took about a quarter, a quarter and a seventh of last year's sales, and Hecla does not name them.
Greens Creek pyrite concentrate circuit
A bolt-on to the mill that would pull roughly a million more ounces of silver a year out of rock already being dug. Cheap to build, management says. The open question is whether a smelter will buy the stuff.
Competes with La Colorada skarn expansion (Pan American Silver) · Greens Creek tailings reprocessing (Hecla) · Midas restart (Hecla)
In plain English
Every load of rock the Greens Creek mill grinds leaves some silver behind, locked in a brassy mineral called pyrite — fool's gold — that ends up in the waste pile.
The idea is to bolt one more stage onto the end of the mill that skims the pyrite off and sells it: no new mine, no new hole, the same rock run one step further. Hecla puts it at roughly a million ounces of silver a year, says it is cheap to build and could be throwing off cash in about two years, and notes it would shrink the clean-up bill the mine owes when it closes. The catch is finding a smelter willing to pay a fair price for a low-grade powder.
Greens Creek tailings reprocessing
The mine's own waste heap — about ten million tons of grey sand — is thought to still hold roughly fifty million ounces of silver. A third round of test work was due mid-year, and one processor has signed a non-binding deal to trial a batch.
Competes with Greens Creek pyrite concentrate circuit (Hecla) · La Colorada skarn expansion (Pan American Silver)
In plain English
Crush rock, skim off the metal, and what is left is a grey sand called tailings. Greens Creek stacks its tailings dry on site, and decades of that add up to about ten million tons.
The pile is not empty: Hecla reckons roughly fifty million ounces of silver and close to six hundred thousand ounces of gold are still sitting in it. Whether any of that can be pulled back out at a price that works is the open question. A third round of test work was due around the middle of this year, and a company called NVRO Metals has signed a non-binding agreement to run 35,000 tonnes through a processing hub it plans to build in Australia. Nothing is committed.
Lucky Friday
The deep one, in Idaho's old Silver Valley: a record 1.5 million ounces of silver last quarter. Far less gold and zinc rides along here, so profits track the silver price more directly than anywhere else Hecla mines. Cooling gear is due this September.
Competes with Galena Complex (Americas Gold and Silver) · Rochester (Coeur Mining)
In plain English
Mullan, Idaho, in the old Silver Valley mining district: shafts driven far down under the mountain into rich veins of silver, lead and zinc. A surface cooling plant — in effect a large air conditioner for workings that deep — was 81% built earlier this year and is due to finish this September.
The powder goes to the same smelters as Alaska's. What makes this mine different is the arithmetic: much less gold and zinc travels with the silver to offset costs, so a high silver price shows up here fast and a low one hurts. The crew is unionised and paid partly on the silver price as well, which is why the cost per ounce climbs in the good years.
Keno Hill
A high-grade silver district in the Yukon, deliberately running slow: this year's target was cut to 2.2–2.6 million ounces while permits and building catch up. The critical permits are now aimed at mid-2029. Management calls it a bridge problem, not an asset problem.
Competes with Galena Complex (Americas Gold and Silver) · La Colorada (Pan American Silver)
In plain English
Hecla bought this old Yukon mining camp at Mayo in 2022 — rich silver, lead and zinc veins plus a mill to process them. Last year it finally paid its own way, turning its first profit and spare cash under Hecla. This year the company chose to slow it down.
The hold-up is paperwork, not rock. The mill is allowed 440 tonnes of ore a day, and getting there waits on Yukon regulators approving how the mine handles the water it discharges — approval that has slid from talk of full production in 2028 to critical permits by mid-2029. So Hecla runs it gently, finishes the building work, and waits on a deposit it says holds sixteen years of reserves.
Midas restart project
A past-producing gold-and-silver mine in Nevada that kept its mill and its permits. Hecla is drilling to see whether Midas and the ground around it hold the ounces — well under a million is the bar — needed to justify starting it up again.
Competes with Archimedes Underground at Ruby Hill (i-80 Gold) · Rochester (Coeur Mining)
In plain English
Elko County, Nevada. The mine stopped producing, but the costly parts stayed standing: a mill cleared to process 1,200 tonnes of rock a day and a permitted yard for the leftovers with roughly fifteen years of room — which management says meaningfully cuts what a restart would cost.
The plan is a hub with spokes. Restart the mill as the hub, then truck ore to it from Hecla's other Nevada ground, including a property called Hollister. The bar management set is deliberately modest: well under a million ounces of gold, counting the silver as if it were gold, to get started. Nothing is sold yet — this year's drilling is about proving the ounces exist and the trucking pays. Nevada's exploration spend is more than three times last year's.
Greens CreekThe engine of the company: an island mine in Alaska where the gold, zinc and lead pay the bills so completely that producing last quarter's silver cost less than nothing — minus $17 an ounce. Watch permits and room for waste rock.The engine of the company: an island mine in Alaska where the gold, zinc and lead pay the bills so completely that producing last quarter's silver cost less than nothing — minus $17 an ounce. Watch permits and room for waste rock.
In plain English
Admiralty Island, Alaska: an underground mine whose rock carries four metals at once — silver, gold, zinc and lead. Hecla grinds it on site into a heavy grey powder that is mostly metal, and everything leaves by sea.
Smelters and metal traders buy that powder, pay for the metal inside it, and subtract a fee for doing the melting and refining. Because the gold, zinc and lead in the same load fetch so much, they cover the cost of digging on their own — which is how a quarter's silver can end up costing less than nothing. Three buyers took about a quarter, a quarter and a seventh of last year's sales, and Hecla does not name them.
Competes with La Colorada (Pan American Silver) · Red Dog (Teck Resources) · Saucito (Fresnillo)
Greens Creek pyrite concentrate circuitA bolt-on to the mill that would pull roughly a million more ounces of silver a year out of rock already being dug. Cheap to build, management says. The open question is whether a smelter will buy the stuff.A bolt-on to the mill that would pull roughly a million more ounces of silver a year out of rock already being dug. Cheap to build, management says. The open question is whether a smelter will buy the stuff.
In plain English
Every load of rock the Greens Creek mill grinds leaves some silver behind, locked in a brassy mineral called pyrite — fool's gold — that ends up in the waste pile.
The idea is to bolt one more stage onto the end of the mill that skims the pyrite off and sells it: no new mine, no new hole, the same rock run one step further. Hecla puts it at roughly a million ounces of silver a year, says it is cheap to build and could be throwing off cash in about two years, and notes it would shrink the clean-up bill the mine owes when it closes. The catch is finding a smelter willing to pay a fair price for a low-grade powder.
Competes with La Colorada skarn expansion (Pan American Silver) · Greens Creek tailings reprocessing (Hecla) · Midas restart (Hecla)
Greens Creek tailings reprocessingThe mine's own waste heap — about ten million tons of grey sand — is thought to still hold roughly fifty million ounces of silver. A third round of test work was due mid-year, and one processor has signed a non-binding deal to trial a batch.The mine's own waste heap — about ten million tons of grey sand — is thought to still hold roughly fifty million ounces of silver. A third round of test work was due mid-year, and one processor has signed a non-binding deal to trial a batch.
In plain English
Crush rock, skim off the metal, and what is left is a grey sand called tailings. Greens Creek stacks its tailings dry on site, and decades of that add up to about ten million tons.
The pile is not empty: Hecla reckons roughly fifty million ounces of silver and close to six hundred thousand ounces of gold are still sitting in it. Whether any of that can be pulled back out at a price that works is the open question. A third round of test work was due around the middle of this year, and a company called NVRO Metals has signed a non-binding agreement to run 35,000 tonnes through a processing hub it plans to build in Australia. Nothing is committed.
Competes with Greens Creek pyrite concentrate circuit (Hecla) · La Colorada skarn expansion (Pan American Silver)
Lucky FridayThe deep one, in Idaho's old Silver Valley: a record 1.5 million ounces of silver last quarter. Far less gold and zinc rides along here, so profits track the silver price more directly than anywhere else Hecla mines. Cooling gear is due this September.The deep one, in Idaho's old Silver Valley: a record 1.5 million ounces of silver last quarter. Far less gold and zinc rides along here, so profits track the silver price more directly than anywhere else Hecla mines. Cooling gear is due this September.
In plain English
Mullan, Idaho, in the old Silver Valley mining district: shafts driven far down under the mountain into rich veins of silver, lead and zinc. A surface cooling plant — in effect a large air conditioner for workings that deep — was 81% built earlier this year and is due to finish this September.
The powder goes to the same smelters as Alaska's. What makes this mine different is the arithmetic: much less gold and zinc travels with the silver to offset costs, so a high silver price shows up here fast and a low one hurts. The crew is unionised and paid partly on the silver price as well, which is why the cost per ounce climbs in the good years.
Competes with Galena Complex (Americas Gold and Silver) · Rochester (Coeur Mining)
Keno HillA high-grade silver district in the Yukon, deliberately running slow: this year's target was cut to 2.2–2.6 million ounces while permits and building catch up. The critical permits are now aimed at mid-2029. Management calls it a bridge problem, not an asset problem.A high-grade silver district in the Yukon, deliberately running slow: this year's target was cut to 2.2–2.6 million ounces while permits and building catch up. The critical permits are now aimed at mid-2029. Management calls it a bridge problem, not an asset problem.
In plain English
Hecla bought this old Yukon mining camp at Mayo in 2022 — rich silver, lead and zinc veins plus a mill to process them. Last year it finally paid its own way, turning its first profit and spare cash under Hecla. This year the company chose to slow it down.
The hold-up is paperwork, not rock. The mill is allowed 440 tonnes of ore a day, and getting there waits on Yukon regulators approving how the mine handles the water it discharges — approval that has slid from talk of full production in 2028 to critical permits by mid-2029. So Hecla runs it gently, finishes the building work, and waits on a deposit it says holds sixteen years of reserves.
Competes with Galena Complex (Americas Gold and Silver) · La Colorada (Pan American Silver)
Midas restart projectA past-producing gold-and-silver mine in Nevada that kept its mill and its permits. Hecla is drilling to see whether Midas and the ground around it hold the ounces — well under a million is the bar — needed to justify starting it up again.A past-producing gold-and-silver mine in Nevada that kept its mill and its permits. Hecla is drilling to see whether Midas and the ground around it hold the ounces — well under a million is the bar — needed to justify starting it up again.
In plain English
Elko County, Nevada. The mine stopped producing, but the costly parts stayed standing: a mill cleared to process 1,200 tonnes of rock a day and a permitted yard for the leftovers with roughly fifteen years of room — which management says meaningfully cuts what a restart would cost.
The plan is a hub with spokes. Restart the mill as the hub, then truck ore to it from Hecla's other Nevada ground, including a property called Hollister. The bar management set is deliberately modest: well under a million ounces of gold, counting the silver as if it were gold, to get started. Nothing is sold yet — this year's drilling is about proving the ounces exist and the trucking pays. Nevada's exploration spend is more than three times last year's.
Competes with Archimedes Underground at Ruby Hill (i-80 Gold) · Rochester (Coeur Mining)
Named in filings, launches and programs
- AuroraProduct · Pre-revenuePast-producing Nevada gold ground with a mill on site and historic grades above two ounces a ton; a 2025 Forest Service clearance reopened it to work.
- HollisterProduct · Pre-revenueGold ground in Elko County, Nevada, first drilled this spring — a candidate spoke to feed ore to the Midas mill if the restart happens.
- 2026 exploration budgetProductA record $55 million to spend on looking, nearly double last year: $24M close to the working mines, $16M in Nevada, $10M hunting fresh ground.
- Lucky Friday surface cooling projectProductThe cooling plant that makes the deepest workings bearable; 81% built earlier this year and due to finish in September 2026.
- Keno Hill tailings storage expansionProductPermit for more waste-storage room came through this spring — one of the pieces needed before the mill can run at its full rate later this decade.
- Silver Valley / StarProduct · Pre-revenueSilver, lead and zinc ground at Wallace, Idaho, right next door to Lucky Friday.
- San Juan SilverProduct · Pre-revenueSilver, lead and zinc exploration ground at Creede, Colorado.
- Libby Exploration ProjectProduct · Pre-revenueSilver and copper in Montana; management points to it as something for later in the decade.
- Rock CreekProduct · Pre-revenueA second silver-copper prospect in Montana, at Noxon.
- Fire CreekProduct · Pre-revenueGold ground in Lander County, Nevada.
- Monte CristoProduct · Pre-revenueGold ground in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
- RepublicProduct · Pre-revenueGold ground at Republic, Washington.
- RacklaProduct · Pre-revenueGold ground at Mayo, Yukon — the same corner of the territory as Keno Hill.
- KinskuchProduct · Pre-revenueSilver ground at Alice Arm, British Columbia.
- ConnaughtProduct · Pre-revenueCopper ground at Dawson, Yukon.
AuroraProduct · Pre-revenue
Past-producing Nevada gold ground with a mill on site and historic grades above two ounces a ton; a 2025 Forest Service clearance reopened it to work.
HollisterProduct · Pre-revenue
Gold ground in Elko County, Nevada, first drilled this spring — a candidate spoke to feed ore to the Midas mill if the restart happens.
2026 exploration budgetProduct
A record $55 million to spend on looking, nearly double last year: $24M close to the working mines, $16M in Nevada, $10M hunting fresh ground.
Lucky Friday surface cooling projectProduct
The cooling plant that makes the deepest workings bearable; 81% built earlier this year and due to finish in September 2026.
Keno Hill tailings storage expansionProduct
Permit for more waste-storage room came through this spring — one of the pieces needed before the mill can run at its full rate later this decade.
Silver Valley / StarProduct · Pre-revenue
Silver, lead and zinc ground at Wallace, Idaho, right next door to Lucky Friday.
San Juan SilverProduct · Pre-revenue
Silver, lead and zinc exploration ground at Creede, Colorado.
Libby Exploration ProjectProduct · Pre-revenue
Silver and copper in Montana; management points to it as something for later in the decade.
Rock CreekProduct · Pre-revenue
A second silver-copper prospect in Montana, at Noxon.
Fire CreekProduct · Pre-revenue
Gold ground in Lander County, Nevada.
Monte CristoProduct · Pre-revenue
Gold ground in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
RepublicProduct · Pre-revenue
Gold ground at Republic, Washington.
RacklaProduct · Pre-revenue
Gold ground at Mayo, Yukon — the same corner of the territory as Keno Hill.
KinskuchProduct · Pre-revenue
Silver ground at Alice Arm, British Columbia.
ConnaughtProduct · Pre-revenue
Copper ground at Dawson, Yukon.