There's a lot of things I really like and a few things that actually bother me. Section 1.12..., 1.9, 2.4, 3.5, 11.3. 11.4, 11.6 , 12, 12.2, 12.3..., 13... might be of special interest.. It also shows how much hole pokin was going on.... Some light reading in case you want to spend a delightfull afternoon...
Fintel link:
https://fintel.io/doc/sec-hecla-mining-co-de-719413-ex964-2024-february-15-19768-5091
It's also available in PDF format HL.
Mining Plus Canada Ltd. is a mining technical services provider, consisting of professionals specializing in geology, mining engineering (Surface and Underground), geotechnical engineering, mine ventilation and operational management. Mining Plus has grown and diversified over the years to cover a broad range of mineral commodities across the project value chain, from the conceptual stage of projects, right through to feasibility study work, project delivery, commissioning, and mine closure.
I beleive after reading the report it indicates how important the Keno Hill mine is to Hecla from an economic perspective considering a 10/11 year LOM.
A very indepth and highly technical summary of 400+ pages of Keno Hill past, present and future.
Material risks that could cause actual results to differ:
• Probable Mineral Reserves that have been modified from Indicated Mineral Resource estimates.
• Assumed commodity prices and exchange rates.
• Proposed mine and process production plan.
• Projected mining and process recovery rates.
• Ability to market the two types of concentrate on favorable terms as shown in the LOM plan.
• Sustaining capital costs and proposed operating costs.
• Assumptions as to closure costs and closure requirements.
• Assumptions as to ability to obtain remaining outstanding permits.
• Assumptions about environmental, permitting, and social risks.
• Unanticipated reclamation expenses.
• Unexpected variations in quantity of mineralization, grade, or recovery rates.
• Exploration risks and results, including that mineral resources are not mineral reserves, they do not have demonstrated economic viability and there is no certainty that they can be upgraded to mineral reserves through continued exploration.
• Geotechnical or hydrogeological considerations during operations being different from what was assumed.
• Failure of mining methods to operate as anticipated.
• Operating risks, including but not limited to failure of plant, equipment, or processes to operate as anticipated.
• Accidents and other risks of the mining industry.
• Silver and other metals price volatility.
• Currency fluctuations.
• Increased production costs and variances in ore grade or recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans.
• Community relations.
• Conflict resolution and outcome of projects or oppositions.
• Litigation, political, regulatory, labor, and environmental risks.
• Inflation causes our costs to rise more than we currently expect.
1.13 Conclusions
The Keno Hill is a polymetallic silver-lead-zinc vein type mineralization. There are three deposits included in the mine plan and mill feed. Production commenced in 2023 with feed from the Bermingham deposit. The mine plan continues with the mill feed from Bermingham and the Flame and Moth deposits, and finally from Lucky Queen. The mill ramps up to process ore at 400 tpd in the first three years before reaching the peak capacity of 550 tpd in year five. The current LOM period is estimated to be eleven years ending in 2034.
The mining method at the Keno Hill Mine is overhand mechanized cut and fill using cemented and uncemented rockfill as backfill. Mechanized cut and fill is a highly selective method that enables extraction of the Mineral Reserves safely and economically while adapting to the variable nature of the narrow vein geometry. Hecla has maintained an active drilling program that seeks to identify mineralization extensions and to support the evaluation of Mineral Resources and provide grade control definition ahead of mining operations. Mining Plus considers the drilling, logging and drill core meet existing industry standards and are sufficient to support Mineral Resource Estimation.
The crushed ore is processed in a conventional flotation mill producing silver-lead concentrate and zinc concentrate. The total concentrate production over the life of mine is 103.2 kt at Ag 15,269 g/t and Pb 45.0%, and 68.7 kt at Ag 997 g/t and Zn 47.0% of silver and zinc concentrates respectively.
In terms of project execution, Hecla has been able to leverage the existing infrastructure onsite to resume mining and milling operations and the positive economic results support the updated Mineral Reserves Estimate.