Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) has announced its preliminary silver and gold production for the fourth quarter and full year 2023. Despite facing challenges such as the temporary shutdown at the Lucky Friday mine since August 2023, the company managed to exceed its 2022 silver production, with 14.3 million ounces compared to 14.2 million ounces. However, annual gold production decreased by 14%, attributed to the transition of Casa Berardi to an open pit mine, while Greens Creek gold production increased by 26%.
Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla's President, and CEO, commented on the company's performance, stating, "Hecla faced multiple challenges in 2023 with the fire at the Lucky Friday and improving the safety culture at Keno Hill, but despite these challenges, silver production exceeded last year as Greens Creek delivered another strong year, Lucky Friday's production through July with our patented UCB method produced more silver than the mine typically produced in a full year with the old mining method, and the roughly half year of production at Keno Hill shows its potential to be a meaningful producer."
Baker also expressed optimism for the year ahead, saying, "We look forward to a strong year in 2024 as we execute our growth strategy to deliver up to 20 million ounces of silver production by 2025. With silver's critical role in energy transition and its application in solar electricity generation, Hecla will play an important role in producing silver as the world's fastest-growing established silver producer and the dominant producer of silver in the U.S. and soon Canada."
The company provided a production summary, showing the performance for the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2023, compared to the same periods in 2022. Silver and gold production figures, as well as lead and zinc production, were provided for the company's operating mines.
Hecla's full 8-K submission is available here.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (k) | $567,137 | $673,266 | $691,873 | $807,473 | $718,905 | $754,362 |
| Revenue Growth | n/a | 18.71% | 2.76% | 16.71% | -10.97% | 4.93% |
| Operating Margins | -6% | -7% | 10% | 10% | 2% | 2% |
| Net Margins | -5% | -14% | -1% | 4% | -5% | -6% |
| Net Income (k) | -$26,751 | -$94,909 | -$9,457 | $35,095 | -$37,348 | -$45,734 |
| Net Interest Expense (k) | $40,944 | $48,447 | $49,569 | $41,945 | $42,793 | $42,194 |
| Depreciation & Amort. (k) | $131,820 | $191,451 | $148,110 | $171,793 | $143,938 | $145,513 |
| Earnings Per Share | -$0.06 | -$0.19 | -$0.02 | $0.06 | $0.07 | $0.05 |
| EPS Growth | n/a | -216.67% | 89.47% | 400.0% | 16.67% | -28.57% |
| Diluted Shares (k) | 433,419 | 490,449 | 527,329 | 542,176 | 557,344 | 607,896 |
| Free Cash Flow (k) | -$42,712 | -$555 | $89,777 | $111,289 | -$59,488 | -$106,671 |
| Capital Expenditures | $136,933 | $121,421 | $91,016 | $109,048 | $149,378 | $217,406 |
| Current Ratio | 1.21 | 1.53 | 1.93 | 2.13 | 1.5 | 1.71 |
Hecla Mining Company has growing revenues and increasing reinvestment in the business, a strong EPS growth trend, and healthy leverage. However, the firm has weak operating margins with a stable trend.
