The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News – January 12, 2024
Greens Creek produced 9.7 million oz of silver during 2023.
Hecla's Keno Hill mine in the Yukon produced 1.5 million oz of silver during the ramp-up of commercial operations in 2023.
Despite setbacks at its Lucky Friday and Keno Hill mines, Hecla Mining Company produced 14.3 million ounces of silver in 2023, which was slightly higher than the company's 2022 production of this precious technology metal, thanks in large part to the steadfast output at its Greens Creek operation in Southeast Alaska.
"Hecla faced multiple challenges in 2023 with the fire at the Lucky Friday mine and improving the safety culture at Keno Hill, but despite these challenges, silver production exceeded last year as Greens Creek delivered another strong year," said Hecla Mining President and CEO Phillips S. Baker, Jr.
The Idaho-based silver miner's 2023 output was also supported by seven months of the safer and more productive underhand closed bench (UHB) mining method at Lucky Friday and roughly six months of production at Keno Hill.
With production ramping up to full capacity at both Lucky Friday and Keno Hill, Hecla expects a significant jump in its silver output to meet the energy transition demand.
"We look forward to a strong year in 2024 as we execute our growth strategy to deliver up to 20 million ounces of silver production by 2025," said Baker. "With silver's critical role in energy transition and its application in solar electricity generation, Hecla will play an important role in producing silver as the world's fastest-growing established silver producer and the dominant producer of silver in the U.S. and soon Canada."
Despite a pair of significant Southeast Alaska weather events toward the end of the year that resulted in roughly 12 days of lost production, Hecla's Greens Creek mine still produced 9.7 million oz of silver during 2023, which is on par with 2022 output.
Much like last year, this one operation accounted for 68% of the company's silver output for the year.
Crews at Greens Creek continue to find ways to bump up mill throughput. During 2023, the mill processed an average of 2,506 tons of ore per day, which is about 9% higher than in 2022. This increased throughput offset slightly lower silver grades and recoveries, resulting in nearly identical silver production year-over-year.
In addition to silver, Greens Creek produced 60,896 oz of gold last year, a 26% jump over 2022, as well as significant zinc and lead byproducts.
Having already produced 2.5 million oz of silver by mid-year, Hecla's Lucky Friday mine in Idaho got off to a strong start to 2023.
Baker said the implementation of UCB mining at Lucky Friday resulted in more silver production in seven months than the mine typically produced in a full year with the old mining method.
An August fire in the underground mine, however, halted production for most of the rest of the year. As a result, this Idaho operation produced 3.1 million oz of silver during 2023.
To get the mine back into operation, Hecla implemented a plan to develop a new secondary egress consisting of a ramp of 1,600 feet and a 290-foot vertical escapeway.
With this new development complete, Lucky Friday restarted production on Jan. 9 and is expected to ramp up to full production in the coming weeks.
Hecla's newest operation, the Keno Hill mine in the Yukon, produced 1.5 million oz of silver last year, most of which came in the second half of the year.
Since finalizing the acquisition of Keno Hill toward the end of 2022, Hecla has steadily been working toward bringing this high-grade silver mine online.
The ramp-up to commercial production began during the second quarter of 2023, with the Yukon mine contributing 184,264 oz of silver during the period. This continued into the second half of the year, with the operation producing 710,012 oz of silver during the third quarter and 608,301 oz during the final three months of the year.
Baker says "the roughly half year of production at Keno Hill shows its potential to be a meaningful producer."
Reaching the Yukon operation's full potential, however, has gone slower than Hecla anticipated as it was discovered that a safety action plan needed to be implemented to elevate the Keno Hill mine to Hecla's injury-free standard.
A safety plan focused on training, supervision, mining practices, and implementation of the safety processes has been initiated at Keno Hill.
In addition to its three silver mines, Hecla also owns and operates the Casa Berardi gold mine in Quebec.
Casa Berardi suffered its own setbacks during 2023 due to wildfires that closed the access road to the Quebec mine, which resulted in Hecla suspending operations in early June.
The mine closure came in the midst of a transition from underground to surface mining. The closure and lower tonnage from underground mining during the transition both contributed to lower gold output at the mine last year.
As a result, Casa Berardi produced 90,363 oz of gold during 2023, which is 29% less than in 2022.
"As planned, we began the transition of Casa Berardi's production to surface mining, which lowered production but increased margins," Baker said.
CORRECTION: This article was updated on April 9 to correctly state the third and fourth quarter silver production at Keno Hill.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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