Hecla Files Early Warning Report in Respect of Cascadia Minerals

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) (the “Company”) announced today that the Company, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, has completed the acquisition of 555,556 units of Cascadia Minerals Ltd., with each unit consisting of one Common Share and one warrant entitling the holder to acquire one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.28 each, for cash consideration of $0.18 per unit or $100,000 in aggregate. After completion of this transaction, Hecla controls 7,830,512 Common Shares, being approximately 17.4% of the issued and outstanding Cascadia Common Shares, and warrants to acquire an aggregate of an additional 6,944,512 Cascadia Common Shares.

Prior to the acquisition described above, Hecla controlled 7,274,956 Common Shares (being approximately 17.3% of the then issued and outstanding Common Shares) and controlled warrants to acquire an additional 6,388,956 Cascadia Common Shares.

Should Hecla exercise all warrants of Cascadia controlled by it, Hecla would hold, on a partially diluted basis, an aggregate of 14,775,024 Common Shares of Cascadia, constituting approximately 28.4% of the then-outstanding Cascadia Shares.

The Cascadia Common Shares and warrants were acquired for investment purposes by Hecla. Hecla does not have any present intention to acquire ownership of, or control over, additional securities of Cascadia. It is the intention of Hecla to evaluate its investment in Cascadia on a continuing basis and such holdings may be increased or decreased in the future.

For the purposes of Canadian National Instrument 62-103, the address of Hecla is 6500 N. Mineral Drive, Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 83815, USA.

ABOUT HECLA

Founded in 1891, Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) is the largest silver producer in the United States. In addition to operating mines in Alaska, Idaho, and Quebec, Canada, the Company is developing a mine in the Yukon, Canada, and owns a number of exploration and pre-development projects in world-class silver and gold mining districts throughout North America.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections and other applicable laws, including Canadian securities laws. Words such as “may”, “will”, “would”, “should”, “expects”, “intends”, “projects”, “believes”, “estimates”, “targets”, “anticipates” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.