Hecla Mining Company (HL) Business Profile

What it does

Hecla Mining discovers, acquires and develops mines and produces precious and base metals. It sells products containing silver, gold, lead, zinc and copper to businesses that process or trade metals, rather than selling finished jewelry or other consumer goods.

Its products include concentrates, which are materials produced by processing mined ore to increase their metal content. Hecla also produces unrefined bullion, known as doré, and carbon material containing precious metals. Custom smelters, metal traders and other processors buy its concentrates and carbon material. Refiners buy its doré or refine it before Hecla sells the resulting metals to traders.

At December 31, 2025, Hecla had four operating segments: Greens Creek in Alaska, Lucky Friday in Idaho, Keno Hill in Canada’s Yukon Territory and Casa Berardi in Quebec. The company subsequently agreed to sell the subsidiary that owns Casa Berardi. Keno Hill is being developed and has not yet reached Hecla’s criteria for commercial production.

Hecla is headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Rob Krcmarov is president and chief executive officer. At December 31, 2025, the company had approximately 1,865 employees.

How it makes money

Hecla earns revenue by mining ore, processing it into concentrates or unrefined bullion, and selling those materials or the refined metals they contain. Smelters, traders and refiners pay for specified metals in the products. Sales depend on both the volume and metal content of shipments and the prices realized for those metals.

Greens Creek produces concentrates containing payable silver, zinc, lead and gold, and at times copper. Lucky Friday produces concentrates containing payable silver, zinc and lead. Keno Hill produces silver and precious-metal concentrates while it ramps up. Casa Berardi produces unrefined gold and silver bullion, as well as loaded carbon and precipitates; Hecla announced an agreement to sell its owner in January 2026.

In 2025, Greens Creek contributed 44.3% of total metals sales, while Casa Berardi contributed 23.0%. These historical contributions include Casa Berardi. In the second quarter of 2026, silver accounted for 68% of mine revenue from continuing operations, gold for 14%, and base-metal byproducts for the remainder.

Total sales in 2025 were more than $1.4 billion; second-quarter 2026 revenue from continuing operations was $334 million. The figures do not cover the same period or business scope.

Metal sales recur as mines produce and shipments are made, but their timing can vary. A meaningful amount of concentrate, mostly from Greens Creek, remained unsold at the end of the second quarter of 2026 and shipped in early August. Hecla uses forward contracts and options at times to manage metal-price exposure between shipment and final settlement and for some forecast shipments.

Customers and how it sells

Hecla sells through relationships with custom smelters, metal traders, third-party processors and refiners. Greens Creek and Lucky Friday sell flotation concentrates to smelters and traders. A third-party processor makes unrefined bullion from Greens Creek gravity concentrate, and a refiner processes it before the metals are sold to precious-metal traders. Casa Berardi also ships bullion and other material to refiners, and at times sells loaded carbon and precipitates directly to them.

Customer A accounted for 24.5% of 2025 revenue, Customer B for 23.4%, Customer C for 13.9%, Customer D for 10.4% and Customer E for 10.0%. The customers are identified by letter.

Hecla’s mines are in North America. Greens Creek is on Admiralty Island near Juneau, Alaska; Lucky Friday is in northern Idaho; Keno Hill is in the Yukon; and Casa Berardi is in northwestern Quebec. Hecla agreed in January 2026 to sell the subsidiary that owns Casa Berardi to Orezone Gold Corporation, with consideration partly deferred or contingent.

Suppliers and costs

Hecla’s mining business requires ongoing capital investment to replace, modernize and expand equipment and facilities and to develop mineral reserves. Capital expenditures were $252.4 million in 2025, including mine development and infrastructure spending. The company also pays for exploration, environmental compliance and reclamation.

Power is its largest energy input, and Hecla sources electricity from local utilities primarily using renewable hydropower. Its mines are underground operations. Fuel represented about 3% of its consolidated cost structure in the second quarter of 2026. At Lucky Friday, profit-sharing expense is tied directly to the silver price.

Hecla uses third parties to process some products: a processor produces doré from Greens Creek gravity concentrate, and refiners process unrefined bullion. Environmental and safety requirements also affect costs. At Keno Hill, the company has submitted plans to upgrade a water-treatment plant after permit exceedances involving discharged water.

Competitive position

Hecla produces and markets metals that are sold to smelters, traders and refiners. Its Greens Creek, Lucky Friday and Keno Hill operations combined produced 37% of 2024 silver production in the U.S. and Canada. No competing company is named in the available business information.

Hecla owns its producing mines and has exploration projects near mining districts. Its underground mines use power sourced primarily from local renewable hydropower utilities. The company also produces payable metals alongside silver: lead and zinc at its silver operations, and gold at Greens Creek. These metals are sold as part of its products.

Our reading: Ownership of established mines and nearby mineral interests provides a competitive asset base, but its strength depends on maintaining production and developing reserves. Our reading: Byproduct metals and hydropower can support mine economics, although metal prices and site costs remain outside Hecla’s full control. Our reading: Permits and infrastructure can make mine development difficult, but those requirements also constrain Hecla’s own expansion, as the Keno Hill ramp-up shows.

Growth opportunities

Hecla’s growth plans include expanding reserves, resources and production capacity at its properties, exploring around existing mining districts and seeking mining and exploration investments. It is also advancing permitting for the Libby exploration project in Montana.

At Keno Hill, the company is operating at a lower sustained rate while it develops the site and pursues permits. Hecla has met only the silver-recovery criterion among its five criteria for commercial production. It expects to begin ramping up to higher production levels by the end of roughly 2029 if critical permits are received by mid-2029 and infrastructure work and the tailings expansion advance sufficiently.

In Nevada, Hecla has advanced exploration and permitting at Midas and Aurora. It is evaluating existing infrastructure for potential restarts, subject to technical and economic assessments. Hecla says Aurora’s mill would require reinvestment or potentially replacement.

At Greens Creek, the company is studying a processing circuit to recover a marketable pyrite concentrate from mill tailings. Hecla estimates that, once fully ramped up, the circuit could add approximately 1 million to 1.2 million ounces of silver and 10,000 to 15,000 ounces of gold in annual production. Engineering and cost work remain in progress.

Structural risks

• Metal prices: Operating results depend substantially on silver, gold, lead and zinc prices, which can fluctuate widely. A substantial or extended decline would materially harm Hecla. Derivatives used to manage price exposure can also prevent it from realizing possible revenues or expose it to losses.
• Mining interruptions: Underground fires, ground falls, flooding, equipment failures and other hazards can stop production, cause injuries or damage facilities. Insurance has exclusions and limitations and may not cover a particular loss.
• Permitting and environmental obligations: Hecla needs permits to mine, explore and reclaim sites. Environmental compliance and litigation can be costly or constrain expansion. Closure and reclamation obligations may exceed the provisions made for them.
• Keno Hill development: The ramp-up depends on permits and investment in infrastructure, including water treatment and tailings capacity. Hecla has experienced water-discharge permit exceedances at the site.
• Capital needs: Mining requires continued investment. A sustained metals-price downturn, higher operating or capital costs, or an inability to access financing could affect Hecla’s spending plans.

Bottom line

Our reading

Hecla is a mining business whose cash generation depends on producing and selling metals at prices it cannot control. Its established mines and byproduct metals support the business, while ongoing capital spending, environmental obligations and mine interruptions remain exposures. Keno Hill and projects at existing sites offer potential growth, but permits, infrastructure and technical work affect when that growth can be realized.