Casa Berardi Expected to Produce 125,000 to 130,000 Ounces of Gold
in 2013
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)
announced today that its acquisition of Aurizon Mines Ltd. is complete.
The acquisition brings to Hecla the Casa Berardi mine, which is located
in Quebec, Canada, and is expected to produce 125,000 to 130,000 ounces
of gold in 2013. With the ongoing shaft deepening project and planned
future open pit development, the mine is expected to operate for more
than a decade. The acquisition also brings several exploration and
pre-development projects located in Quebec that could potentially
generate future production growth.
“The Aurizon assets, together with Hecla’s strong base of producing
silver mines, create a unique precious metals company, with three
long-life, high-grade, low-cost operations, all in mining-friendly North
American jurisdictions,” said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla’s President
and Chief Executive Officer. “Importantly, we expect to generate
significantly higher precious metals production, more cash flow and have
a larger reserve base that will continue to grow from exploration of our
very large land positions that are near existing operations.”
“We welcome the Aurizon shareholders and employees to Hecla, and look
forward to building this new, exciting company together,” Mr. Baker
added.
Under the terms of the transaction, which is similar to a merger with a
Hecla subsidiary under U.S. law, Hecla acquired all of the outstanding
common shares of Aurizon for total consideration of approximately
CAD$514 million and 56,997,790 shares of Hecla common stock. With
completion of the acquisition, Aurizon shares are expected to be
delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange with effect from the close of
trading on June 5, 2013, and the NYSE MKT is expected to suspend trading
in Aurizon shares prior to the opening of the market today.
About Hecla Mining Company
Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)
is a leading low-cost U.S. silver producer with operating mines in
Alaska and Idaho, and is a growing gold producer with an operating mine
in Quebec, Canada. The Company also has exploration and pre-development
properties in five world-class silver and gold mining districts in the
U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and an exploration office and investments in
early-stage silver exploration projects in Canada.
Cautionary Statements to Investors on Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made which are not historical facts, such as anticipated
payments, litigation outcome (including settlement negotiations),
production, sales of assets, exploration results and plans, costs, and
prices or sales performance are "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words
such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expects”, “intends”, “projects”,
“believes”, “estimates”, “targets”, “anticipates” and similar
expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected, anticipated, expected or implied. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, metals price volatility,
volatility of metals production and costs, litigation, regulatory and
environmental risks, operating risks, project development risks,
political risks, labor issues, ability to raise financing and
exploration risks and results. Refer to the company's Form 10-K and 10-Q
reports for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact
expected future results. The company undertakes no obligation and has no
intention of updating forward-looking statements other than as may be
required by law.
Hecla Mining Company
Jim Sabala, Sr. VP and CFO
Mike
Westerlund, VP-Investor Relations
or
Investor Relations
Direct
Main: 1-800-HECLA91 (1-800-432-5291)
hmc-info@hecla-mining.com
www.hecla-mining.com
Source: Hecla Mining Company