Hecla had spent approximately $30 million over the past two years developing the underground ramp and conducting underground exploration toward the earn-in requirement. Hecla anticipates one use of the proceeds will be for expansion of production from the Lucky Friday silver mine in northern Idaho, as well as other general corporate purposes. The sale of the Hollister Development Project was originally announced on February 21, 2007. At that time, Hecla President and CEO, Phillips S. Baker, Jr., said, “We believe Hollister is a good project for us if we owned all of it, but when split in half, it is just not large enough to make a significant impact on Hecla’s production, revenue or income. It is a better strategy to focus our people and financial resources on projects that have a much larger impact on Hecla. At the same time, it gives our partners an opportunity to benefit from the project's full potential, so we feel it is a win/win proposition for both sides. Through our ownership of Great Basin Gold stock, we will continue to participate in the upside potential of the Hollister Block.”