According to Mining News Pro - The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based miner also generated 12.6 million ounces of silver last year, or of 22% more than in 2018, attributing most of the gains to its Greens Creek mine in southeast Alaska.

The operation, one of the world’s largest and lowest-cost primary silver mines, churned out 9.9 million ounces of silver — the highest total since Hecla acquired full ownership in 2008 — and 56,624 ounces of gold in 2019. From the total, 2.7 million ounces of silver and 15,356 ounces of gold were produced in the last three months of the year.

Hecla Mining also announced that unionized workers at its Lucky Friday mine, in northern Idaho, have ratified a collective bargaining agreement reached in December. The move ends a 34-month strike, the longest in the Silver Valley region.

The deep underground silver, lead, and zinc mine, located in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District of northern Idaho, has been in operation since 1942.

The company reported at the end of 2018 that the strike had cost the company $14.6 million. That year, Lucky Friday produced 169,041 ounces of silver.