Hecla Mining Company (HL) has reported promising exploration and definition drilling results across its core assets in North America for the second quarter of 2026. The company’s drilling programs remain focused on extending high-grade mineralized trends and proving up resources to support long-term production. Notable progress was achieved at the Keno Hill operation in the Yukon, where the Bermingham Deep trend was extended by 165 feet to both the northeast and southwest. This area, which links toward the historic Hector-Calumet mine, continues to demonstrate strong exploration potential.

The company operates a diversified portfolio of silver-dominant assets, including the Lucky Friday mine in Idaho and the Keno Hill mine in the Yukon. Reflecting on the broader operational progress, the exploration team has maintained a consistent focus on district-scale growth.

"Our exploration teams delivered another quarter of tangible progress toward our district-scale growth targets." — Kurt Allen, Vice President of Exploration

In addition to the Yukon projects, the company is actively advancing its exploration pipeline in Nevada, where it is pursuing a mine restart at its Midas operation. Recent drilling at Midas yielded new high-grade vein discoveries within the Sinter–Pogo Gap target area. These veins, which remain open along strike, provide encouragement for the company’s objective of restarting the operation. Furthermore, metallurgical and geotechnical drilling at Midas is currently underway to support these development goals. Management plans to generate an initial resource estimate for the Sinter Offset area following the current pause in drilling, with follow-up work at the Midas Sinter–Pogo Gap target area scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.

The company’s definition drilling at its producing assets has also yielded robust results. At the Greens Creek project in Alaska, definition programs in the East, 200s, 5250, and Gallagher zones continue to convert inferred resources. A comparison of performance highlights the quality of these results; in the second quarter of 2024, Greens Creek definition drilling reported silver grades up to 20.8 oz/ton. By contrast, the current 2026 program reports grades in the East Zone reaching 169.5 oz/ton silver, representing a material increase in high-grade intercepts for the operation.

"The extension of the high-grade Bermingham trend toward Hector-Calumet and new discovery at Midas are exactly the kind of results that support our long-term reserve growth strategy across the portfolio." — Kurt Allen, Vice President of Exploration

During the quarter, the company invested $11.3 million in exploration and corporate development activities. These investments were balanced between high-impact discovery drilling at Keno Hill and Nevada and resource expansion at existing production sites. The company’s annual guidance for exploration and pre-development remains steady at $55 million. Looking forward, exploration activity is expected to accelerate in the second half of the year. The company expects to initiate exploration drilling at Aurora in August 2026, further expanding its active project footprint. With multiple veins open along strike and at depth, the firm remains well-positioned to advance its stated goals of resource growth and potential operational restarts across its North American properties.

Read the full announcement: Hecla Reports Excellent Q2 2026 Exploration Results at Keno Hill, New Veins Discovered at Midas, and Positive Definition Results at Greens Creek