COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 4, 2015– Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) today announced third quarter net loss applicable to common shareholders of $10.0 million, or$0.03 per share, and a loss after adjustments applicable to common shareholders of $20.5 million, or $0.05 per share.¹

THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS AND SIGNIFICANT ITEMS

• Sales of $104.9 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $17.8 million.²
• Operating cash flow of $26.8 million.
• Total silver production of 2.6 million ounces at a cash cost, after by-product credits, per silver ounce, of $7.52.³
• Gold production of 43,635 ounces, of which Casa Berardi produced 29,259 ounces at a cash cost, after by-product credits, per gold ounce of $793.³
• Cash and cash equivalents of $174.5 million at September 30, 2015.
• San Sebastian, Hecla's fourth operating mine, expected to produce ore by year end. Stripping has started exposing the Middle Vein.
• Strong exploration success at San Sebastian and Casa Berardi.

"During the third quarter we delivered solid production performance, with Greens Creek continuing to lead the way. Cash costs, after by-product credits, were higher because of the weak price of our by-product metals," said Phillips S. Baker Jr., Hecla's President and CEO. "Hecla's cash flow and balance sheet have allowed continued investment in capital improvements, growth and exploration initiatives; the benefits of which are just beginning to be realized. We expect San Sebastian to start processing ore by year end, Casa Berardi is accessing a newly discovered, high-grade stope and the Lucky Friday has returned to full production after replacing the main ventilation booster fans."

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Net loss applicable to common shareholders for the third quarter was $10.0 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to net gain applicable to common shareholders of $3.5 million, or $0.01 per share, for the same period a year ago, and was impacted by the following items:

• Cash cost, after by-product credits, per gold ounce decreased to $793 from $898, or 12%, from third quarter 2014 principally due to the weaker Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar.¹
• Cash cost, after by-product credits, per silver ounce increased to $7.52 from $5.43, or 38%, mainly due to lower by-product credits resulting from lower gold, lead and zinc prices than in the same period in 2014.¹
• Net mark-to-market gain on base metal derivative contracts of $3.3 million as a result of lower base metals prices, compared to a net loss of $0.4 million in the third quarter of 2014.
• Increased pre-development spending on San Sebastian in preparation for mining.
• A $9.1 million foreign exchange gain on Canadian assets due to a weaker Canadian dollar compared to the US dollar.

Operating cash flow of $26.8 million was approximately $25 million higher for the third quarter of 2015 compared to the prior year period. While lower prices in the third quarter of 2015 resulted in lower net income, 2014's comparative results were driven lower by satisfying the remainder of theCoeur d'Alene Basin litigation settlement.

Capital expenditures (excluding capitalized interest) at the operations totaled $39.0 million for the third quarter. Expenditures were $16.5 million at Lucky Friday, $13.6 million at Greens Creek and$8.9 million at Casa Berardi.²

Metals Prices

The average realized silver price in the third quarter was $14.54 per ounce, 22% lower than the$18.53 price realized in the third quarter of 2014. Realized gold, lead and zinc prices also decreased by 12%, 24%, and 22% respectively, from the third quarter of 2014.

Base Metals Forward Sales Contracts

The following table summarizes the quantities of base metals committed under financially settled forward sales contracts at September 30, 2015:

With the advanced settlement of remaining financially settled base metal forward contracts, other than contracts on provisional sales, the Company recognized $4.4 million in additional proceeds during the quarter. Settlements have provided net proceeds of $16.5 million year to date.

OPERATIONS OVERVIEW

Summary

• Greens Creek production of 2.0 million ounces of silver is 5% higher than the 1.9 million ounces in the same period of 2014 due to higher recovery and tonnage.
• Lucky Friday silver production of 0.6 million ounces is a decrease from 1.0 million ounces from the same period of 2014 due to the impact on tonnage and grade of the ventilation booster fan failure during the third quarter.
• Casa Berardi gold production of 29,259 ounces is a slight increase over 28,977 ounces in the same period of 2014.
• San Sebastian is progressing rapidly towards producing ore by year end.

The following table provides the production and cash cost, after by-product credits, per silver and gold ounce summary for the third quarters ended September 30, 2015 and 2014:

The following table provides the production summary on a consolidated basis for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014:

Greens Creek Mine – Alaska

Greens Creek's third quarter production of 2.0 million ounces of silver exceeded the third quarter of 2014 by 5%, while gold production of 14,376 ounces was up 6% over the same period last year. The higher silver and gold production were a result of higher recoveries and increased tonnage, partially offset by lower grades. Silver recoveries increased to 76.5%, up from 71.0% in the prior year period as a result of a change implemented in late 2014 to the flotation circuit to more efficiently scalp additional lead concentrate directly to final concentrate, and by introducing CO₂ for pH control in the lead flotation circuit. The increased recoveries positively impacted the operation's revenues by $1.8 million in the third quarter. Recoveries for the other three metals also increased period over period. The mill operated at an average of 2,233 tons per day (tpd) in the third quarter.

The cash cost, after by-product credits, per silver ounce of $4.82 increased from $3.75 in the third quarter 2014. The per ounce cost was impacted by lower by-product credits and slightly lower operating costs. Power costs were similar to the 2014 period due to higher precipitation levels in southeast Alaska in both cases resulting in availability of less expensive hydroelectric power, a condition that is expected to last through the next quarter. Treatment costs were lower as a result of lower prices.

Lucky Friday Mine – Idaho

Lucky Friday’s third quarter silver production of 592,243 ounces was 39% lower than the third quarter of 2014 due to lower tonnage and grade. A failure of the underground booster fan reduced the ventilation capacity of the mine, leading to the temporary closure of a higher-grade production stope. Replacement fans are now in operation and Lucky Friday has returned to normal production. In addition, there were 16 days of downtime in the third quarter for planned hoist mechanical maintenance. The mill operated at an average of 792 tpd in the third quarter.

The cash cost, after by-product credits, per silver ounce of $16.60, increased from $8.71 per ounce in the third quarter of 2014. This increase was principally due to lower production and realized metals grades relating to downtime from the ventilation fan replacement, as well as lower by-product credits relating to lower base metals prices.

#4 Shaft, a key growth project, has been excavated to the 8,244 level. The project is more than 89% complete and is expected to be finished in the fourth quarter of 2016. The final depth of the shaft has been slightly reduced to 8600 from the earlier target of 8800 feet. A shaft station and operating level will be established at 8300 feet, the depth of the known resource. The total completion cost estimate remains at approximately $225 million, with $193.8 million already spent through the third quarter of 2015. As of September 30, 2015, the #4 Shaft team has worked 1,413 days without a lost-time accident.

Casa Berardi Mine – Quebec

Casa Berardi’s third quarter gold production of 29,259 ounces was 1% higher than the third quarter of 2014. The mill operated at an average of 2,262 tpd in the third quarter.

The cash cost, after by-product credits, per gold ounce of $793, decreased from $898 in the third quarter of 2014 mainly due to the weaker Canadian dollar relative to the USD.

Casa Berardi started the fourth quarter very strongly, with production of approximately 15,000 ounces of gold in October. The mine is expected to produce approximately 40,000 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter.

San Sebastian Mine – Mexico

Hecla is quickly advancing the San Sebastian mine in the State of Durango, Mexico with the goal of producing ore from small open pits by year end. Updates to the third-party owned processing plant are proceeding well, the hiring of supervisory staff is nearing completion, and stripping has begun on the East Francine and Middle veins.

A Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the San Sebastian project was recently completed and shows this is a robust project and a potential significant cash contributor for Hecla in 2016 and 2017. Notably, the PEA does not include results of the recent exploration and in-fill drilling programs described in the Exploration section below that have expanded the resource and improved the confidence of the resource in the open pit areas. Hecla has filed in Canada a National Instrument 43-101 technical report for the San Sebastian project entitled "Technical Report for the San Sebastian Ag-Au Property, Durango, Mexico" dated effective September 8, 2015. The report has been filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, the website maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators.

The following is a summary of the high-level life of mine economic assumptions of surface mining operations, as outlined in the PEA.^1,2

EXPLORATION AND PRE-DEVELOPMENT

Expenditures

Exploration and pre-development expenses were $5.5 million and $1.7 million, respectively, in the third quarter of 2015. This is a decrease of $0.3 million in exploration and an increase $1.3 millionin pre-development compared to the third quarter 2014 as a result of increased spending at theSan Sebastian property. Full year exploration and pre-development expenses are expected to be about $24 million.

Casa Berardi – Quebec

At Casa Berardi, up to seven drills have been operating underground in an effort to refine current stope designs and expand reserves and resources in the 118, 123, 124 and Lower Inter zones. Other exploration drilling has extended mineralization on the 124 Zone and newly discovered 117 Zone. In-stope and definition drilling of the upper 118 Zone from the 530 level intersected a 15 to 55-foot wide shear zone that includes mineralized intervals of 0.74 oz/ton gold over 42.3 feet and 0.18 oz/ton gold over 55.4 feet. Mineralization is open and deeper drilling suggests the zone continues to plunge to the west. Drilling from the 910 level on the lower 118 Zone intersected 0.46 oz/ton gold over 18.7 feet and 0.36 oz/ton gold over 28.8 feet. This drilling has extended the resource to the east and also remains open to depth.

Drilling from the 550, 770, and 850 levels in the mine has identified multiple, stacked high-grade lenses of the 123 Zone that represent at least 1,800 feet of semi-continuous down-dip mineralization with an average strike length of 425 feet. Definition and step-out drilling at the bottom of the 123 Zone resource has defined a series of high-grade mineralized structures with intervals including 0.81 oz/ton gold over 23.6 feet and 0.73 oz/ton gold over 11.8 feet below the 850 level that are open at depth and to the west. Future drilling is expected to continue to expand the resource, and the close proximity of these new lenses to mine infrastructure is expected to allow near-term production from these areas.

Underground drilling on the 124 Zone east of the Principal Zone area defined a 15 to 60-foot thick, quartz-bearing zone with over 300 feet of strike length that is expected to define a resource close to the 250 level. Within this zone are high-grade lenses, including intervals of 1.50 oz/ton gold over 9.2 feet and 0.71 oz/ton gold over 11.8 feet at the 290 level. Drilling from the same level of the 124-81 lens includes intersections of 0.40 oz/ton gold over 8.2 feet. Deeper drilling of the 124 Principal Zone intersected broad mineralization at the 500 level including 0.26 oz/ton gold over 36.1 feet and 0.25 oz/ton gold over 16.1 feet. Exploration drilling from the 810 level of the newly defined 117 Zone has extended gold mineralization both north and south of the Casa Berardi Fault for over 325 feet down-plunge. Recent drill results include an interval of 0.13 oz/ton gold over 17.1 feet in iron formation north of the Casa Berardi Fault and 0.15 oz/ton gold over 21.8 feet in sheared veins to the south of the Casa Berardi Fault.

At the west end of the mine, drilling of the Lower Inter Zone intersected 1.04 oz/ton gold over 19.7 feet and 1.37 oz/ton gold over 9.8 feet and these intersections represent the upper extension of a multiple vein system that is open. Exploration drilling on the 157 Zone at the East Mine has better defined the geometry and continuity intersected narrow, high-grade zones including an intersection of 1.26 oz/ton gold over 3.3 feet.

The recent successes in both surface and underground drilling are expanding reserves and resources with considerable increases in overall grade and are also identifying new resource trends throughout the West Mine of Casa Berardi. When the acquisition of Casa Berardi was made, there was an expectation of finding significant mineralization that would prolong gold production for many years to come, and this expectation is being realized.

San Sebastian – Mexico

There has been significant drilling success over the past two and a half years on the near-surface East Francine, Middle and North veins at the San Sebastian project, and the project is quickly advancing to open pit mine production. The East Francine, Andrea, Middle and North veins now define nearly 5.0 miles of mineralized strike length and are open along strike and at depth.

The East Francine Vein has currently been traced for over 1,600 feet along strike and to 500 feet of depth. The near-surface, high-grade zones are characterized as being silver and gold dominant, supergene enriched and oxidized (cyanide soluble). An in-fill drill program of the main mineralized shoot has demonstrated the continuity of the vein structure and increased resource confidence to measured and indicated categories in the proposed open pit areas. The drilling also appears to extend the high-grade area further along strike, potentially expanding the open pit resource. Assay results from drilling at the east extent of the East Francine Vein resource include 0.17 oz/ton gold and 8.2 oz/ton silver over 23.9 feet. About 550 feet east of the resource a 1 foot-wide vein grading 0.07 oz/ton gold and 10.5 oz/ton silver was intersected in recent exploration drilling suggesting mineralized veins are present well away from the current resource.

The Middle Vein has been traced for nearly 7,000 feet along strike and to a depth of over 1,000 feet. Shallow in-fill drilling of the Middle Vein confirmed the continuity of the vein mineralization and includes intercepts of 0.20 oz/ton gold and 54.2 oz/ton silver over 5.9 feet and 0.11 oz/ton gold and 38.4 oz/ton silver over 6.5 feet. This in-fill program improved the continuity and grade over previous drilling and has defined strong mineralization beyond the original pit outline. Exploration drilling continues to define a new zone of near-surface mineralization to the southeast, past the San Ricardo Fault. The zone is slightly deeper and shallower dipping than the Middle Vein to the west of the fault, and assay intervals include 0.10 oz/ton gold and 13.2 oz/ton silver over 7.0 feet, and 0.01 oz/ton gold and 11.1 oz/ton silver over 8.9 feet.

The North Vein has a mineralized trend that extends over 3,500 feet along strike and 700 feet to depth and remains open along strike in both directions and at depth. The North Vein in-fill drilling intercepts have returned grade results that are consistent with the initial drilling completed prior to this year. These assay intervals include 1.74 oz/ton gold and 15.9 oz/ton silver over 4.3 feet, and 0.29 oz/ton gold and 7.6 oz/ton silver over 4.8 feet. On the North Vein, some of exploration intercepts to the southeast include 0.12 oz/ton gold and 3.7 oz/ton silver over 10.4 feet and 0.04 oz/ton gold and 11.7 oz/ton silver over 5.0 feet.

Exploration and in-fill drilling at San Sebastian over the last two quarters has expanded the resources and improved the confidence in near-surface resources to measured and indicated category. All of the resource models are in the process of being updated. Updated mining models of each vein are expected to be finalized by the end of the year and are expected to provide upside to production defined in the PEA study.

Greens Creek – Alaska

At Greens Creek, definition drilling made progress in refining the resources of the lower NWW, Deep 200 South, Upper Southwest, and West Wall zones. Exploration drilling of the 9A Zone expanded the resource along the projected trend and mineralization has been intersected on the margins of Southwest Bench and East Ore zones. Recent drilling of the lower NWW Zone has generally confirmed and upgraded the resource model of the shared and upper limbs and assay results include 71.6 oz/ton silver, 0.16 oz/ton gold, 8.2% zinc, and 4.6% lead over 5.4 feet and 36.2 oz/ton silver, 1.0 oz/ton gold, 5.6% zinc, and 2.6% lead over 12.2 feet. Drilling has defined additional West Wall mineralization up to 240 feet down-dip from the current resource model. More base metal-rich intersections of the West Wall include 5.8 oz/ton silver, 0.07 oz/ton gold, 27.9% zinc, and 7.7% lead over 9.4 feet.

Drilling to follow up historic high-grade intersections of the 9A Zone has defined continuous mineralization within the Maki Fault and above the southern end of the current resource. This drilling has defined an 8 to 10-foot wide mineralized zone over an area stretching about 260 feet along strike and 130 feet along dip. Drilling of the Upper Southwest Zone has defined good continuity of multiple, flat-lying mineralized zones toward the northern end of Upper Southwest mineralization. Recent assay results include 25.4 oz/ton silver, 0.11 oz/ton gold, 8.8% zinc, and 4.5% lead over 18.2 feet and 24.0 oz/ton silver, 0.12 oz/ton gold, 13.2% zinc, and 7.4% lead over 13.5 feet.

Drilling of the Deep 200 South Zone in the past few years has defined three stacked folds of high-grade mineralization that represent up to 600 feet of down-dip continuity. Recent drilling of the folded upper bench mineralization has stepped systematically to the south and has defined mineralization of similar extent, thickness, and geometry compared to the resource model. Intersections of Deep 200 South include 35.5 oz/ton silver, 0.09 oz/ton gold, 1.2% zinc, and 0.7% lead over 16.1 feet and 34.5 oz/ton silver, 0.05 oz/ton gold, 1.0% zinc and 0.4% lead over 9.8 feet along the upper limb. The mineralization remains open to the south and exploration drilling recently identified mineralization above and to the east of the bench mineralization.

More complete drill assay highlights from Casa Berardi, San Sebastian and Greens Creek can be found in Table A at the end of the release.

Other Properties

Summer fieldwork on the Opinaca-Wildcat project near the Eleonore Mine in northern Quebecidentified gold mineralization in trenches at the Manuel occurrence including 0.35 oz/ton gold over 15.4 feet. Prospecting and sampling of the areas covered by an Induced Polarization geophysical survey in April identified gold mineralization in the Brad, Mousson and Emma grids.

At the recently acquired Rock Creek project in Montana, work included integration and upgrading of the resource model and exploration data into the Hecla database and modeling software.

MANAGEMENT CHANGE

James A. Sabala, Senior Vice President and CFO, has announced that he intends to retire immediately after the Company's Annual Shareholder Meeting in 2016. The Company has begun a search for his replacement and will be considering both internal and external candidates.

"Jim started his career at Hecla in 1972 working as a miner at the Lucky Friday, and it is only fitting that he has spent the last eight years of his management career at Hecla," said Phillips S. Baker, Jr."He has been a leader, a mentor and my partner in transforming Hecla. Jim will be missed but his legacy is a stronger Hecla positioned to grow and prosper in the future."

2015 GUIDANCE

For the full year 2015, the Company expects:

DIVIDENDS

Common

The Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0025 per share of common stock, payable on or about December 1, 2015, to shareholders of record on November 19, 2015.

Preferred

The Board of Directors also declared the regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.875 per share on the outstanding Series B Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, on a total of 157,816 shares outstanding. This represents a total amount to be paid of approximately $138,000. The cash dividend is payable on January 4, 2016, to shareholders of record on December 15, 2015.

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

A conference call and webcast will be held Wednesday, November 4, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss these results. You may join the conference call by dialing toll-free 1-855-760-8158 or for international by dialing 1-720-634-2922. The participant passcode is HECLA. Hecla's live and archived webcast can be accessed at www.hecla-mining.com under Investors or via Thomson StreetEvents Network.

ABOUT HECLA

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) is a leading low-cost U.S. silver producer with operating mines in Alaska and Idaho, and is a growing gold producer with an operating mine in Quebec, Canada. The Company also has exploration and pre-development properties in six world-class silver and gold mining districts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and an exploration office and investments in early-stage silver exploration projects in Canada.

Cautionary Statements to Investors on Forward-Looking Statements, including 2015 Outlook

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections and other applicable laws, including Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking statements may include, without limitation: (i) estimates of future production and sales; (ii) estimates of the costs and completion date of the #4 Shaft project; (iii) guidance for 2015 for silver and gold production, cash cost, after by-product credits, capital expenditures and pre-development and exploration expenditures (which assumes metal prices of gold at $1,225/oz., silver at $17.25/oz., zinc at$0.90/lb. and lead at $0.95/lb. and USD/CAD at $0.91); (iv) expectations regarding the development, growth and exploration potential of the Company’s projects (including the San Sebastian property); (v) expectations of growth; (vi) expected availability of hydroelectric power atGreens Creek, and extensions of mineralization of various zones; (vii) the possibility of increasing production at Casa Berardi due to accessing higher grade material, and strike and dip extensions of various zones; (viii) possible strike extensions of veins at the San Sebastian project and estimates of mining, grade, recovery, free cash flow generation, mine life, IRR, ability to reactivate existing mill permits, production of silver, gold and silver equivalent ounces, ability to begin mining by year end, and the ability to mine the high-grade ore; and (ix) expected completion of #4 Shaft by Q4 2016 with a budget of $225 million and to a depth of 8600 feet. Estimates or expectations of future events or results are based upon certain assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Such assumptions, include, but are not limited to: (i) there being no significant change to current geotechnical, metallurgical, hydrological and other physical conditions; (ii) permitting, development, operations and expansion of the Company’s projects being consistent with current expectations and mine plans; (iii) political/regulatory developments in any jurisdiction in which the Company operates being consistent with its current expectations; (iv) the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar, being approximately consistent with current levels; (v) certain price assumptions for gold, silver, lead and zinc; (vi) prices for key supplies being approximately consistent with current levels; (vii) the accuracy of our current mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; and (viii) the Company’s plans for development and production will proceed as expected and will not require revision as a result of risks or uncertainties, whether known, unknown or unanticipated. Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by the “forward-looking statements.” Such risks include, but are not limited to gold, silver and other metals price volatility, operating risks, currency fluctuations, increased production costs and variances in ore grade or recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans, community relations, conflict resolution and outcome of projects or oppositions, litigation, political, regulatory, labor and environmental risks, and exploration risks and results, including that mineral resources are not mineral reserves, they do not have demonstrated economic viability and there is no certainty that they can be upgraded to mineral reserves through continued exploration. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors, see the Company’s 2014 Form 10-K, filed onFebruary 18, 2015 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as well as the Company’s other SEC filings. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly revisions to any “forward-looking statement,” including, without limitation, outlook, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously issued “forward-looking statement” constitutes a reaffirmation of that statement. Continued reliance on “forward-looking statements” is at investors’ own risk.

Qualified Person (QP) Pursuant to Canadian National Instrument 43-101

Dean McDonald, PhD. P.Geo., Senior Vice President – Exploration of Hecla Mining Company, who serves as a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information concerning Hecla’s mineral projects in this news release. Information regarding data verification, surveys and investigations, quality assurance program and quality control measures and a summary of sample, analytical or testing procedures for the Greens Creek Mine are contained in a technical report prepared for Hecla and Aurizon Mines Ltd. titled “Technical Report for the Greens Creek Mine, Juneau, Alaska, USA” effective date March 28, 2013, for the Lucky Friday Mine are contained in a technical report prepared for Hecla titled “Technical Report on the Lucky Friday Mine Shoshone County, Idaho, USA” effective date April 2, 2014, and for the Casa Berardi Mine are contained in a technical report prepared for Hecla titled "Technical Report on the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimate for the Casa Berardi Mine,Northwestern Quebec, Canada" effective date March 31, 2014 (the "Casa Berardi Technical Report"), and for the San Sebastian Mine are contained in a technical report prepared for Hecla titled “Technical Report for the San Sebastian Ag-Au Property, Durango, Mexico" effective dateSeptember 8, 2015. Also included in these four technical reports is a description of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate mineral reserves and resources and a general discussion of the extent to which the estimates may be affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant factors. Copies of these technical reports are available under Hecla's profile on SEDAR 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”). 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 Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (“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 inCanada.

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. This document contains a summary of certain estimates of the Company, not only of proven and probable reserves within the meaning of Guide 7, which requires the preparation of a “final” or “bankable” feasibility study demonstrating the economic feasibility of mining and processing the mineralization using the three-year historical average price for any reserve or cash flow analysis to designate reserves and that the primary environmental analysis or report be filed with the appropriate governmental authority, 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. 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 Guide 7 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. 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.

Source: Hecla Mining Company

Hecla Mining Company
Mike Westerlund, 800-HECLA91 (800-432-5291)
Vice President – Investor Relations
[email protected]
http://www.hecla-mining.com

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