Hecla Mining (HL, Financial) has released preliminary results on production to show that Casa Berardi mine performed well in fourth quarter 2017, however, overall silver and gold production decreased by 25% and 4% to 2,984,786 ounces and to 60,964 ounces compared to the analogous quarter of 2016.
The decreases were mainly due to lower grades at Greens Creek and the ongoing strike started by 250 unionized employees in March 2017.
Labor issues at Lucky Friday squeezed 2017 silver production by 27% to 12,484,843 ounces. On the other hand, the production of the yellow metal was flat on a year-over-year basis with 232,685 ounces milked from the company’s reserves in 2017.
Phillips S. Baker, Jr., the president and chief executive officer of Hecla Mining, commented:
“Our mines finished the year strongly generating the second highest annual silver production and third highest gold production in our 126-year history."
On Wednesday, the stock rose 5.45% to $4.26 per share. The market capitalization of Hecla Mining is $1.7 billion.
The following three charts show Hecla Mining’s yearly production of precious and base metals over the last five years.
Hecla Mining’s Annual Production of Silver from 2013 to 2017:
Hecla Mining’s Annual Production of gold from 2013 to 2017:
Hecla Mining’s Annual Production of lead and zinc from 2013 to 2017:
Baker said the balance sheet for 2017 shows a 10% increase in cash on hand and securities of $219 million.
The financial results for the fourth quarter and for the entire year of 2017 should be released by the company in February.
Disclosure: I have no positions in Hecla Mining.
