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## greenS Creek 

“greens Creek has been a 10-year mine for 23 years now. and we’re planning on being here for decades to come.” 

The record $62.2 million in capital expenditures invested in Greens Creek in 2012 have not only improved operations, but also set the stage for a longer mine life. Greens Creek has so far produced more than 175 million ounces of silver, 1.3 million ounces of gold, and 3.3 billion pounds of zinc and lead — generating almost $3.4 billion of revenue. Greens Creek has a current mine life of nine years and potential beyond that. 

“We’re in the middle of a major Environmental Impact Study for permitting a new tailings facility,” says vice president and general manager Scott Hartman. “We’ve also been expanding our camp and reconditioning infrastructure. And we launched a major development drive underground as a drilling platform for converting resources to reserves.” 

Hecla’s various subsidiaries own 100 percent of Greens Creek, an underground mine that is targeting production of 2,200 tons per day — more than double the throughput of the mine’s early years. The ore body contains silver, gold, zinc, and lead. Situated within the Admiralty Island National Monument in southeast Alaska — an environmentally sensitive area — the Greens Creek property includes 17 patented lode claims and one patented mill site claim, as well as property leased from the U.S. Forest Service. Greens Creek also has title to mineral rights on approximately 7,500 acres of federal land adjacent to the properties, with a total land package encompassing 27 square miles. 

Greens Creek exploration could potentially lead to additional reserves and resources, further extending the mine life or even leading to the identification of another deposit like Greens Creek. 

Drilling efforts over the past 10 years have replaced production and added new reserves and resources. 

Exploration efforts are ongoing along the trend of numerous ore bodies underground and aggressively exploring the highly prospective land package on the surface. “Greens Creek has been a 10-year mine for 23 years now,” says Hartman, “and we’re planning on being here for decades to come.” 

The 2012 exploration program at Greens Creek exceeded $7 million, with drilling at the Gallagher, 200 South, West Wall, NWW, and 5250 zones. Three drills worked underground all year; the surface exploration program employed three drills and a number of surface mapping and sampling crews in the spring and summer. 

The greatest surface success came from Killer Creek, which is less than two miles from the existing operation. Drilling there — in two areas — has defined copper-rich zones that can represent the vent area of a deposit. The plan is to follow up on that discovery in the summer of 2013. 

“After a quarter of a century mining here,” says Hartman, “there are certain things you have to do if you want to continue to operate in the long term. That’s why we continue to invest heavily in exploration and developing platforms that will enable us to continue to add to our reserves and resources; why we’ve been conducting a metallurgical research program; why we’ve been upgrading our infrastructure over the last couple of years: to prepare for the future.” 

