Rising output gives these golds appeal

Article Excerpt

HECLA MINING $5.30 (New York symbol HL; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (208-769-4100; www.hecla-mining.com; Shares outstanding: 396.0 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Dividend yield: 0.2%) explores for, mines and processes silver and gold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Most of the company’s silver output comes from three sites: the Greens Creek mine in Alaska; the Lucky Friday project in Idaho; and the San Sebastian mine in Mexico. Hecla’s Casa Berardi mine in Quebec supplies its gold. In the three months ended March 31, 2017, the company’s silver output fell 27.4%, to 3.4 million ounces from 4.6 million. That decrease was because of lower ore grades at the Hecla’s mines as it shifted to new deposits. A labour strike at its Lucky Friday site also lowered production. However, the company produced 56,113 ounces of gold in the quarter—up slightly from 55,688 a year earlier. Hecla started up San Sebastian in December 2015. Longer term, it aims to build another silver mine at its Montanore…