Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Dalton Baretto: So it sounds like it’s reasonably long-dated here. So maybe this one is for you, Phil. Is there a set of conditions under which you would look at putting cash on care and maintenance until you make these investments that you get the permits?

Phillips Baker: With the plan that we have, there’s no need to do that. We’re able to have it with a modest amount of capital injection to put it in a position to continue to operate. That’s part of the reason why we’ve gone to this plan, which slows down the production so that we don’t have to put on care and maintenance. That would be a pretty costly exercise and very disruptive to the workforce.

Lauren Roberts: There’s an incredible amount of activity in Quebec and Ontario and there is a material risk of going into care and maintenance of those people going elsewhere.

Phillips Baker: Absolutely.

Dalton Baretto: That makes sense. And then maybe if I could just ask 1 last one. Can we give an update on what’s going on in Nevada, whether you’re actually making some investments there, whether you’re kind of approaching the how to grab it now. Just anything that’s going on there?

Phillips Baker: Sure. So the was the primary reason for the acquisition in Nevada. And what we have encountered is an influx of water, and we’re having to — that was not anticipated, was not identified. We’re having to do hydrogeology to figure out how much water we have and then a plan for how to deal with that water. So until that happens, and we have to have permits to be able to deal with the water. So until that happens, we’re going slow in Nevada. And we also have lots of opportunities elsewhere to put our exploration dollars. So we’re doing that. We are advancing at Aurora, we’re having to wait until the . What’s the season called that?

Anvita Patil: The season.

Phillips Baker: The season. Until that’s done, which is, I think, in June, and so you’ll see us do some drilling there. But otherwise, we’re evaluating at Midas, we’re evaluating the expiration that we’ve done. We had some great initial results and then we’ve not seen the follow-through. So we’re not going to push things until we are convinced that we have a good plan for the exploration on Midas Fire Creek. So you’re not going to see much expenditures there in 2023.

Operator: We have no further questions at this time. I’ll hand the conference back over to management.

Phillips Baker: Okay. Well, we appreciate you being on the call. I just want to remind you that we have sometimes available with management. If you’d like to have a one-on-one call, you’ll find the information for that on the press release. So thanks very much. Have a great day.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude today’s meeting. We thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.