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Hecla Mining Announces Second Quarter Production; Keno Hill Begins Ramp-Up, Lucky Friday Reports Highest Quarterly Silver Production in 20 Years
Keno Hill begins ramp-up, Lucky Friday reports highest quarterly silver production in more than 20 years COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hecla Mining Com
About this update from Hecla Mining Company
[{"type":"text","content":"Keno Hill begins ramp-up, Lucky Friday reports highest quarterly silver production in more than 20 years COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) today announced its preliminary silver and gold production for the second quarter and first half of 2023. HIGHLIGHTS Year to Date (“YTD”) 2023 compared to YTD 2022 (\"prior YTD\") Keno Hill produced 184,264 ounces of silver, June throughput of 330 tons per day (tpd) Silver production increased 13% Gold production decreased 14% Zinc production increased 3%; lead production increased 9% \"Hecla's growing silver production was driven by Lucky Friday’s 21% increase compared to the first half of 2022 and a 6% increase at Greens Creek. In addition, Keno Hill, while still testing the mill, operated in its first month at 75% of the targeted 440 tpd throughput using “low-grade” ore to generate almost 200,000 ounces of silver,” said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla's President, and CEO. \"Greens Creek's quarterly production was in line with the plan, and Lucky Friday's silver production was the highest since I started at Hecla more than 20 years ago.\" Baker continued, “Our silver operations remain on track to produce about 17 million ounces this year, with Keno Hill expected to produce more than 2.5 million ounces. With expected silver production of about 20 million ounces in 2025, Hecla is the world’s fastest-growing established silver producer and the dominant producer of silver in the U.S. and soon Canada.\" OPERATIONS Greens Creek The Greens Creek mine produced 2.4 million ounces of silver and 16,351 ounces of gold in the second quarter. Throughput for the quarter was 2,555 tpd, in line with the first quarter, with the mine expected to achieve 2,600 tpd by the fourth quarter of 2023. Silver production declined compared to the first quarter, due primarily to expected lower grades, with a 10% increase in gold production attributable to higher grades. The mine remains on track to achieve its production guidance of 9.0-9.5 million ounces of silver this year. Lucky Friday The Lucky Friday mine produced 1.29 million ounces of silver in the second quarter, an increase of 2% over the first quarter. This quarter’s silver production was the highest since the first quarter of 2000. The increase in silver production was primarily attributable to 3% higher grades, partially off...