HECLA MINING COMPANY (NYSE:HL) Files An 8-K Regulation FD Disclosure
Item 7.01Regulation FD Disclosure.

On April 1, 2019, Hecla Mining Company (the “Company”) announced they had filed technical reports concerning the Greens Creek mine and Casa Berardi mine owned by two of its subsidiaries entitled “Technical Report for the Greens Creek Mine, Juneau, Alaska USA” dated April 1, 2019, with an effective date of December 31, 2018 (the “Greens Creek Report”), and “Technical Report for the Casa Berardi Mine, Northwestern Quebec, Canada” dated April 1, 2019, with an effective date of December 31, 2018 (the “Casa Berardi Report”), with securities regulatory authorities in Canada via SEDAR. The Greens Creek and Casa Berardi Reports were prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators (“NI 43-101”). The news release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K.

The Company has previously filed technical reports under NI 43-101 for the San Sebastian, Lucky Friday and Fire Creek mines (together with the Greens Creek Report and Casa Berardi Report, the “Reports”) owned by subsidiaries of the Company with securities regulatory authorities in Canada via SEDAR. The Reports as filed on SEDAR are available at www.sedar.com.

Cautionary Statements to Investors on Reserves and Resources

Reporting requirements in the United States for disclosure of mineral properties are governed by the SEC and included in the SEC’s Securities Act Industry Guide 7, entitled “Description of Property by Issuers Engaged or to be Engaged in Significant Mining Operations” (“Guide 7”). Although the SEC has recently issued new rules rescinding Guide 7, the new rules are not binding until January 1, 2021, and at this time the Company still reports in accordance with Guide 7. However, the Company is also a “reporting issuer” under Canadian securities laws, which require estimates of mineral resources and reserves to be prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. NI 43-101 requires all disclosure of estimates of potential mineral resources and reserves to be disclosed in accordance with its requirements. Such Canadian information is being included here to satisfy the Company’s “public disclosure” obligations under Regulation FD of the SEC and to provide U.S. holders with ready access to information publicly available in Canada.

Reporting requirements in the United States for disclosure of mineral properties under Guide 7 and the requirements in Canada under NI 43-101 standards are substantially different. The Reports contain certain estimates, not only of proven and probable reserves within the meaning of Guide 7, but also of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates estimated in accordance with the definitional standards of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum referred to in NI 43-101. Under Guide 7, the term “reserve” means that part of a mineral deposit that can be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time of the reserve determination. The term “economically,” as used in the definition of reserve, means that profitable extraction or production has been established or analytically demonstrated to be viable and justifiable under reasonable investment and market assumptions. The term “legally,” as used in the definition of reserve, does not imply that all permits needed for mining and processing have been obtained or that other legal issues have been completely resolved. However, for a reserve to exist, the Company must have a justifiable expectation, based on applicable laws and regulations, that issuance of permits or resolution of legal issues necessary for mining and processing at a particular deposit will be accomplished in the ordinary course and in a timeframe consistent with the Company’s current mine plans. The terms “measured resources”, “indicated resources,” and “inferred resources” are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101. These terms are not defined under Guide7 and are not normally permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC in the United States, except where required to be disclosed by foreign law. The term “resource” does not equate to the term “reserve”. Under Guide 7, the material described in the Reports as “indicated resources” and “measured resources” would be characterized as “mineralized material” and is permitted to be disclosed in tonnage and grade only, not ounces. The category of “inferred resources” is not recognized by Guide 7. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in such categories will ever be converted into proven or probable reserves. “Resources” have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of such a “resource” will ever be upgraded to a higher category or will ever be economically extracted. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a “resource” exists or is economically or legally mineable. Investors are also especially cautioned that the mere fact that such resources may be referred to in ounces of silver and/or gold, rather than in tons of mineralization and grades of silver and/or gold estimated per ton, is not an indication that such material will ever result in mined ore which is processed into commercial silver or gold.

In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the information in Item 7.01 is being furnished and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liability of that section, and shall not be incorporated by reference into any of the Company’s filings or other documents filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

HECLA MINING CO/DE/ Exhibit
EX-99.1 2 ex_139610.htm EXHIBIT 99.1 ex_139610.htm NEWS RELEASE Exhibit 99.1         HECLA FILES NI 43-101 TECHNICAL REPORTS ON GREENS CREEK AND CASA BERARDI MINES   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 1,…
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About HECLA MINING COMPANY (NYSE:HL)

Hecla Mining Company is engaged in discovering, acquiring, developing and producing silver, gold, lead and zinc. The Company and its subsidiaries provide precious and base metals to the United States and around the world. The Company produces lead, zinc and bulk concentrates, which it markets to custom smelters and brokers, and unrefined bullion bars (dore) containing gold and silver at Greens Creek and Casa Berardi. The Company’s segments include the Greens Creek, Lucky Friday, Casa Berardi units and San Sebastian. It is focused on its San Sebastian project; North Idaho’s Silver Valley; Greens Creek unit on Alaska’s Admiralty Island; the silver-producing district near Durango; the Abitibi region of north-western Quebec, and the Creede district of Southwestern Colorado. The concentrates produced at its Greens Creek and Lucky Friday units contain payable silver, zinc and lead, and the concentrates produced at Greens Creek contain payable gold.