The Indigenous Peoples in the local communities around our operations are one of Hecla’s most important partners. We recognize the importance of open and respectful dialogue and have worked diligently to create partnerships for regular communications and opportunities to develop and maintain long-term relationships.
Our local economic impacts include the hiring of First Nation workers as employees and contractors. For example:
Hecla Quebec and the Gitanyow Band in upper British Columbia have in place an exploration agreement that addresses mutual benefits of future exploration activity, including employment, contracting, environment and permitting, and additional considerations.
Our Casa Berardi property is located on the traditional territory of the Abitibiwinni First Nation, from the Pikogan community, and we have prioritized building a strong connection with this community since Hecla’s acquisition of the mine in 2013. We have a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Hecla Quebec and the Abitibiwinni First Nation Community Council regarding exploration and mining activities, as well as a cooperation agreement on meaningful participation for community members in training programs, employment and advancement opportunities, business opportunities, and environmental protection measures. The agreement creates a mechanism that allows the Abitibiwinni First Nation community to benefit financially from the long-term success of the projects. In 2024, Hecla representatives met with the Abitibiwinni First Nation Community Council to provide an update on implementation of the agreement and continue our constructive relationship.
At our Troy Mine in Montana, Hecla has partnered with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CKST) of the Flathead Indian Nation Council on reforestation projects, as part of the Troy Mine Reclamation Project. The CSKT Forestry Greenhouse harvested native seeds from the reclamation area and from that native stock has provided over 200,000 plants for repopulating the recovered area and providing a landscape of natural wildlife habitat for future generations.
Our commitment to mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous Peoples is reflected in Hecla’s policy on a respectful workplace. We provide training in sensitivity to Indigenous issues in our new- hire training. At Casa Berardi, we provided intercultural training to every supervisor, superintendent, and other management-level employee in partnership with a member of the Abitibiwinni First Nation. In 2024, Hecla engaged a First Nation-owned and operated consulting firm to provide training to the Keno Hill leadership team on Yukon First Nation history and culture. Employees and contractors who work at the Hollister mine are required to receive additional cultural resource training.
At our Keno Hill operation, we have a Comprehensive Cooperation and Benefits Agreement with the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun (NND) and we work closely with the NND Development Corporation in Mayo and Whitehorse, Yukon on local hiring, procurement, and business partnerships. We are also working to develop training and recruitment programs to foster a long-term local talent pool. When the NND community needed to evacuate the Mayo area during wildfires in 2023, Hecla provided in-kind support.
Casa Berardi maintains an AAA performance level – the highest score possible – for three out of five Indigenous and Community Relations Indicators. The TSM protocol also sets high standards for our engagement practices with First Nations communities and other local stakeholders.
In Alaska, the Hecla Charitable Foundation partnered with the Angoon Youth Conservation Corps for the ninth year in a row. This program provides job opportunities in environmental stewardship for Native youth in the Admiralty Island National Monument, the Kootznoowoo Wilderness, and the village of Angoon.
Photo: Josh Orem, AYCC Youth Leader
Our employees and Hecla give back to communities in a variety of ways such as volunteerism and local donations.
