Hecla Mining Co Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

Hecla Mining Company and our subsidiaries have provided precious and base metals to the U.S. and worldwide since 1891 (in this report, “we” or “our” or “us” refers to Hecla Mining Company and our affiliates and subsidiaries, unless the context requires otherwise). We discover, acquire, develop, and produce silver, gold, lead and zinc. In doing so, we intend to manage our business activities in a safe, environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner.

We produce lead, zinc and bulk concentrates, which we sell to custom smelters and brokers, and unrefined precipitate and bullion bars (doré) containing gold and silver, which are further refined before sale to precious metals traders. We are organized and managed in four segments that encompass our operating units: the Greens Creek, Lucky Friday, Casa Berardi, and San Sebastian units.

Our current business strategy is to focus our financial and human resources in the following areas:

• Operating our properties safely, in an environmentally responsible manner, and cost-effectively.

• Continuing to optimize and improve operations at each of our units.

• Expanding our proven and probable reserves and production capacity at our units.

• Conducting our business with financial stewardship to preserve our financial position in varying metals price environments.

• Advancing permitting of the Rock Creek and Montanore projects. We acquired Rock Creek as part of the acquisition of Revett Mining Company ("Revett") in June 2015, and we acquired Montanore through the acquisition of Mines Management, Inc. ("Mines Management") in September 2016.

• Maintaining and investing in exploration and pre-development projects in the vicinities of six mining districts and projects we believe to be under-explored and under-invested: North Idaho's Silver Valley in the historic Coeur d'Alene Mining District; our Greens Creek unit on Alaska's Admiralty Island located near Juneau; the silver-producing district near Durango, Mexico; the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, Canada; the Rock Creek and Montanore projects in northwestern Montana; and the Creede district of Southwestern Colorado.

• Continuing to seek opportunities to acquire and invest in mining and exploration properties and companies.

• Cost of sales and other direct production costs of $304.7 million in 2017, $338.3 million in 2016, $292.4 million in 2015, $304.4 million in 2014 and $235.3 million in 2013. Cost of sales and other direct production costs in 2017 and 2016 were impacted by commencement of sales at our San Sebastian unit in the first quarter of 2016. Cost of sales and other direct production costs in 2017 were impacted by suspension of full production at Lucky Friday as a result of a strike, as discussed further below. During 2013, cost of sales and other direct production costs were impacted by the ramp up of production at Lucky Friday during 2013, as discussed below. See Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations for more information.

• $17.1 million in suspension-related costs at our Lucky Friday unit in 2017, along with $4.2 million in depreciation, depletion, and amortization, as a result of an ongoing strike by unionized employees starting in mid-March 2017 (see the Employees section below for more information). We recognized suspension-related income of $1.4 million in 2013 due to the receipt of business interruption insurance proceeds related to the temporary suspension of production at Lucky Friday during most of 2012. Limited production recommenced at the Lucky Friday unit in the first quarter of 2013, and the mine resumed full production in September 2013.

• Exploration and pre-development expenditures totaling $29.0 million, $17.9 million, $22.0 million, $19.7 million and $37.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

• Provision for closed operations and environmental matters of $6.7 million, $5.7 million, $12.2 million, $10.1 million and $5.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.

• Net loss on base metal forward contracts of $21.3 million in 2017, and net gains on base metal forward contracts of $4.4 million in 2016, $8.3 million in 2015, $9.1 million in 2014, and $18.0 million in 2013. These losses and gains are related to financially-settled forward contracts on forecasted zinc and lead production as part of a risk management program initiated in 2010. See Note 10 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for more information on our derivatives contracts.

• Our acquisition of Aurizon Mines Ltd. ("Aurizon") for $714.5 million in June 2013, which was partially funded by the issuance of 6.875% Senior Notes due 2021 ("Senior Notes") in April 2013 for net proceeds of $490.0 million. We recognized expenses relating to the Aurizon acquisition of $26.4 million in 2013. In addition, in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 we recorded interest expense related to the Senior Notes, including amortization of issuance costs, of $35.3 million, $20.1 million, $22.7 million, $24.6 million, and $19.1 million, respectively, net of $0.9 million, $16.2 million, $13.5 million, $11.8 million and $6.5 million, respectively, in capitalized interest primarily related to the #4 Shaft project at Lucky Friday which was completed in early 2017.

• Our acquisition of Mines Management for $52.1 million in September 2016. We recognized expenses related to the acquisition of $2.7 million in 2016. See Note 15 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.

• Our acquisition of Revett for $20.1 million in June 2015. We recognized expenses related to the acquisition of $2.2 million in 2015. See Note 15 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.

• Foreign exchange losses in 2017 and 2016 of $10.3 million and $2.9 million, respectively, and gains in 2015, 2014 and 2013 of $24.6 million, $11.5 million and $3.0 million, respectively, primarily due to increased exposure to exchange fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar as a result of our acquisition of Aurizon.

• Income tax provisions of $19.9 million, $27.4 million and $56.3 million in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and income tax benefits of $5.2 million and $9.8 million in 2014 and 2013, respectively. The provision in 2017 included a write-down of U.S. deferred tax assets, mainly due to a change to tax laws under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in December 2017, and taxes related to our operations in Mexico and Quebec, partially offset by a benefit from a change in income tax position recognized in the first quarter of 2017 related to the timing of deduction of #4 Shaft development costs at Lucky Friday. See Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.

• An increase in the number of shares of our common stock outstanding, which impacts our income (loss) per common share.

Products and Segments

Our segments are differentiated by geographic region. We produce zinc, lead and bulk flotation concentrates at our Greens Creek unit and lead and zinc flotation concentrates at our Lucky Friday unit, each of which we sell to custom smelters and brokers on contract. The flotation concentrates produced at our Greens Creek and Lucky Friday units contain payable silver, zinc and lead, and at Greens Creek they also contain payable gold. At Greens Creek, we also produce gravity concentrate containing silver, gold and lead. Unrefined bullion (doré) is produced from the gravity concentrate by a third-party processor and sold to a precious metal refiner. We also produce unrefined gold and silver bullion bars (doré) at Casa Berardi and San Sebastian, which are shipped to refiners before sale of the metals to precious metals traders. Payable metals are those included in our products which we are paid for by smelters, brokers and refiners. Our segments as of December 31, 2017 included:

• The Greens Creek unit located on Admiralty Island, near Juneau, Alaska. Greens Creek is 100% owned and has been in production since 1989, with a temporary care and maintenance period from April 1993 through July 1996.

• The Lucky Friday unit located in northern Idaho. Lucky Friday is 100% owned and has been a producing mine for us since 1958. As discussed below in the Employees section, unionized employees at Lucky Friday have been on strike since mid-March 2017, resulting in limited production during that time. Following a period of rehabilitation and no production at Lucky Friday in 2012, production returned to historical levels in September 2013.

• The Casa Berardi unit located in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, Canada. Casa Berardi is 100% owned and was acquired on June 1, 2013 with the purchase of all issued and outstanding common shares of Aurizon. Aurizon had operated and produced from the Casa Berardi mine since late 2006 and began various mine enhancements in an effort to improve operational efficiency, including a shaft deepening project completed in 2014 and a new paste fill facility completed in 2013. In addition to ongoing production from the underground mine, production from the East Mine Crown Pillar ("EMCP") surface mine commenced in July 2016. The addition of surface production and enhancements to the processing facility resulted in increased ore throughput and gold production in 2017.

• The San Sebastian unit located in the state of Durango, Mexico. San Sebastian is 100% owned, and had previously produced for us from underground mines between 2001 and 2005. Recent near-surface exploration discoveries in the vicinity of the past producing area led to the decision in the third quarter of 2015 to develop shallow open pit mines there. Production commenced from the open pits in the fourth quarter of 2015. Continued exploration resulted in the decision to develop a new underground ramp and rehabilitate the historical underground access. The underground development commenced in the first quarter of 2017, and underground ore production began in January 2018.

The contributions to our consolidated sales by our operating units in 2017 were 48.2% from Greens Creek, 33.3% from Casa Berardi, 14.8% from San Sebastian, and 3.8% from Lucky Friday.