Announcement • Nov 25
Hecla Mining Company Reports High-Grade Gold Discovery At Midas with Visible Gold Intercepts; Expands Mineralization At Keno Hill and Greens Creek Highlights
Hecla Mining Company announced exploration results from its Midas Project in Nevada, where initial drilling of the previously untested two mile long Pogo Trend has discovered high-grade gold mineralization with visible gold on a new structure. Exploration success at the Midas gold-silver project in Nevada is validating the potential to restart operations at significantly lower capital intensity than comparable development projects, given the existing permitted 1,200 tpd mill and permitted tailings storage facility that remains substantially empty. With the foundational infrastructure already in place and permitted, Nevada's supportive regulatory environment could facilitate timely permitting of additional requirements, positioning Midas as a low-capital-cost opportunity to expand the Company's production profile in a world-class mining district. The Company also reported the successful identification of a potential new ore shoot at Keno Hill's Bermingham Deposit, expansion of mineralization at Greens Creek, and advancement of Aurora exploration permitting to FAST-41 Transparency status. Highlights: Nevada: Midas – Two new high-grade structures were discovered in a 17-hole, 26,970-foot drilling program: Pogo Discovery: First pass drilling of the two-mile Pogo Trend returned 0.95 oz/ton gold and 0.6 oz/ton silver over 2.2 feet (estimated true width), including 6.42 oz/ton gold and 3.5 oz/ton silver over 0.3 feet, from rocks with visible gold in vein fragments. The Pogo Structure remains open for further expansion with follow-up drilling in progress (assays pending). Sinter Vein Extension: Discovered the high-grade Sinter Vein across an estimated 750-foot post-mineral fault offset from the original 2021 Sinter Vein discovery, identifying what is interpreted as a potential new ore shoot. Results include 0.13 oz/ton gold and 0.1 oz/ton silver over 3.9 feet, including 1.44 oz/ton gold and 0.5 oz/ton silver over 0.3 feet (estimated true widths) with visible gold and silver-bearing minerals. The original Sinter Vein was discovered in 2021 and is estimated to contain between 100k-200k tons at grades between 0.65 and 1.60 oz/ton gold and 10.0 and 15.0 oz/ton silver undiluted. Expansion of drilling program underway to follow up on both discoveries and test additional SE Midas targets. Aurora – Exploration plan of operations permit granted FAST-41 Transparency status to expedite federal approval process; the exploration environmental assessment decision anticipated by year-end 2025 which will allow the drill testing of several high priority exploration targets in 2026. Aurora has a permitted 600 tpd mill and historically has produced 1.9 Moz of gold and 20 Moz of silver from underground and open pits, however historic underground production totaled 1.5 Moz of gold at a calculated grade of 2.24 oz/ton gold demonstrating the quality of this project. Keno Hill (Yukon): Bermingham Deep – Surface drilling confirms continuation of high-grade silver mineralization below existing reserves, with a recent drillhole returning 40.4 oz/ton silver over 12.5 feet (reported in Q2/25). These results indicate a new ore shoot developed where multiple mineralized veins intersect at the deposit's northeastern edge. Greens Creek (Alaska) Gallagher – Mineralization extended 550 feet along plunge to the south; remains open down dip. Northern 200 South – Mineralization extended 150 feet to the west; remains open for further expansion. Midas Exploration Update: The Midas District, which has historically produced 2.2 million ounces of gold and 27 million ounces of silver at approximately 0.5 oz/ton gold equivalent, represents one of the most productive precious metal vein deposits in the Northern Nevada Rift. The project benefits from fully permitted mill infrastructure and available tailings capacity, positioning it to efficiently process ore from discoveries across the 30,000-acre land package. These discoveries at Midas are particularly significant as they validate its systematic approach to exploring the SE Midas area where the epithermal system is fully preserved, unlike the partially eroded historic Midas District. With existing permitted processing infrastructure in place, successful delineation of these new structures has the potential to enable near-term restart of production with minimal capital investment. The primary focus of exploration drilling at Midas in 2025 has been the SE Midas target area, located 1.5 miles southeast of the past-producing Midas Mine. This area is characterized by an extensive alteration footprint indicating the presence of a vein network on scale with the historically mined Midas Vein System. Critically, alteration observed in the SE Midas area indicates the epithermal system is fully preserved at depth, unlike the partially eroded historic district. The SE Midas target area represents the most underexplored area in the district, with targets including Pogo, Sinter, Eastern Star, and Little Opal. Two core rigs have been operating at the SE Midas targets since early Q2/25, completing 17 drillholes totaling 26,970 feet to date, with drilling ongoing. Pogo Vein Discovery – High-Grade Gold with Visible Metal. The Pogo Trend represents one of the most compelling exploration opportunities at Midas. Over a two-mile stretch, surface features including opaline silica and sinter terraces indicate the presence of a mineralized system at depth. This surficial geology, combined with its CSAMT geophysical study, indicates that a system of mineralized veins feeding these shallow features could be present at depth. Initial drilling successfully intersected a mineralized structure with exceptional results. The first hole returned 0.95 oz/ton gold and 0.6 oz/ton silver over 2.2 feet, including 6.42 oz/ton gold and 3.5 oz/ton silver over 0.3 feet (estimated true widths) from a silicified breccia with visible gold in vein fragments. The presence of visible gold confirms that high-grade conditions exist at this location, reinforcing the strong potential to encounter additional high-grade zones as drilling continues along the structure. Three follow-up holes have determined the Pogo Structure orientation to be north-northeast striking and dipping steeply to the southwest. Assay results from this follow-up drilling are pending and expected in Q4/25. The Pogo Structure remains open for expansion along strike to the north and south, and down-dip to the southwest. The two-mile surface expression of the Pogo Trend suggests significant exploration potential beyond the initial discovery area. Additional drilling is programmed for Q4/25 to expand the known mineralized footprint and test additional targets along the trend. Sinter Vein – Tracing High-Grade Mineralization.