Following closing of the transaction, Hecla intends to advance the evaluation program of Montanore, which is located 10 miles from Hecla’s Rock Creek project and 50 miles north of Hecla’s Lucky Friday mine in Idaho.

“Hecla is the logical company to move Montanore forward, with its close proximity to Rock Creek, as well as its similar geology and scale,” said Hecla President and CEO Phillips S. Baker.

The project has already undergone extensive engineering based on a proposed and initial production capacity of approximately 12,500 st/d and estimated production of 8 million oz/y of silver and 60 million lb/y of copper.

The Montanore deposits were discovered in the 1980s and explored by previous operators at a cost of more than $100 million, which ceased in the 1990s when metals prices were low. Mines Management acquired the project in 2002 and has since spent more than $75 million on dewatering and partial rehabilitation of a 14,000-ft decline, construction of site infrastructure, revised and updated resource estimates, and a preliminary economic assessment, as well as repermitting the entire project.