On Oct. 13, shares of Hecla Mining Company (HL, Financial) closed up 3 cents or 0.57% on the New York Stock Exchange from the previous trading day at $5.25 per unit, following the news release the U.S. mining company published on its website about the preliminary results on the third quarter of fiscal 2017 production.
The production of silver in the third quarter of fiscal 2017 that closed September 30, was 3,323,157 ounces, a 23% decrease from the comparable of fiscal 2016, while the production of gold was 63,046 ounces, a 21% increase on a year over year basis.
The production of the yellow metal in the third quarter of fiscal 2017 was, Hecla Mining Company reports, “the second highest level since 2003”.
This record achieved by Hecla Mining in the production of the yellow metal was possible thanks to the impressive 38% year over year increase in the production of gold the mining company did at Casa Berardi, which is located in north-western Quebec, and thanks to a record in the throughput Hecla Mining achieved at the mine in September. Since the acquisition of the Casa Berardi, these levels of gold production and monthly throughput were the highest ever.
The company runs four mines and third quarter of fiscal 2017 production is shared as follows:
At Greens Creek, which is located in Southeast Alaska, Hecla Mining produced 2,344,315 ounces of silver and 12,563 ounces of gold. The production of silver accounted for 70.5% of the company’s total production of silver, while the production of gold accounted for 19.9%.
At Lucky Friday (northern Idaho), the U.S. miner produced 88,298 ounces of silver or 2.7% of the total production.
At Casa Berardi, the company produced 44,141 ounces of gold or 70% of the total.
At San Sebastian, Hecla Mining Company produced 880,885 ounces of silver, or 26.5%, and 6,342 ounces of gold, or 10.1% of the total production of the yellow metal the company did in the third quarter of this fiscal.
The company also produces base metals such as lead and zinc. The production of lead accounted for 5,368 tons and that one of zinc for 14,498 tons in the quarter in question.
Phillips S. Baker, Jr., the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hecla Mining Company, commented on third quarter 2017 results saying that “the mines’ performance has led to substantial increases in production of all four metals over the second quarter and puts us well on our way to achieving their production guidance and improving per-ounce cost performance”.
Phillips S. Baker, Jr, added that “with operating performance and substantially higher zinc and lead prices, our cash position is $7 million greater than at the end of the year.”
As of September 30, 2017, Hecla Mining Company has approximately $205 million in cash on hand and securities.
Hecla Mining Company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price to book (P/B) ratio of 1.38, a price to owner earnings (P/E) ratio of 40.10, a price to sales (P/S) ratio of 3.37 and an EV to Ebitda ratio of 12.20.
The company has an average target price of $5.90 and a recommendation rating of 2.9 out of 5.
Disclosure: I have no positions in Hecla Mining Company.
