Hecla Mining Eyes Latin American Expansion For Accelerated Growth

U.S. silver producer Hecla Mining Company HL is setting its sights on new growth after posting dimmed results for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Owing to North American setbacks like a fire in Lucky Friday mine and forest fires in Quebec, the company suffered notable disruptions — silver production is down 17%, gold production dropped 5% and lead production slowed by as much as 36%.

However, CEO Phillips J. Baker is optimistic about the Keno Hill Silver District.

Hecla gained Keno Hill through a $74 million all-stock acquisition of Canada-based Alexco Resource.

See Also: Endeavour Challenges Overshadow Ambitious Plans For 2024

"It is a great project, but we believe it has the potential to be even greater. We don't know what the limit is going to be," Baker said in an interview for Kitco.

See below.

Yukon-based Keno Hill overcame initial challenges like water pollution, poor storage of hazardous materials and sediment runoff from tailings facilities. The mine produced 1.5 million ounces of silver in 2023, with over 600,000 in Q4. A current reserve estimate of 200 million ounces indicates its exceptional potential.

Yet, despite strong North American production, Baker acknowledges the necessity to expand into other regions.

"We have 20 projects in the company – half of which are gold and half of which are silver. To an extent, we can advance those, but we recognize for us to grow quicker, we need to be in either Mexico, Peru, Bolivia or Argentina," he said.

Furthermore, Baker highlighted the crucial role of silver in the energy transition, especially in solar panel production.

"We're certainly lobbying for recognition of silver as a critical mineral, but silver deposits are going to advance regardless of whether it is on a critical minerals list or not. It is clearly one of the key elements of this energy transition," he noted, citing the Energy Information Agency‘s report for 2023, which showed that 75% of installed renewables were solar, requiring almost 190 million ounces of silver.

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based Hecla operates four mines. They include Greens Creek (Alaska), Lucky Friday (Idaho), Casa Berardi (Quebec), and Keno Hill (Yukon).

The company is also involved in 10 exploration projects and aims to produce up to 20 million ounces of silver annually by 2025.

Now Read: Uranium Revival: Denison Mines Resumes Operations At McClean Lake As Prices Soar

Image: Shutterstock