Environmental Management

Hecla’s responsibilities expand beyond producing essential metals, and we recognize the importance of creating a positive impact on the environments of the communities where we live and work. We are committed to minimizing the environmental footprint of our operations through continuous improvement of our processes.

Tracking Progress Fosters Accountability

At the center of Hecla’s approach to mining is a commitment to protecting the environment, both globally and at the local level of our operations. All of our sites implement programs to reduce freshwater and energy consumption, protect wildlife and habitats, reduce our carbon footprint, maintain local water quality, and rehabilitate the land once mining is complete.

We track our environmental data to benchmark Hecla’s operations against industry standards, and we report on progress against our goals to ensure accountability and transparency.

Inaugural Environmental Summit

We held our inaugural environmental summit to share knowledge and exchange best practices. Senior environmental managers from each Hecla site and our corporate ESG leadership gathered at company headquarters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The leaders toured the Lucky Friday mine, discussed how they implement the Environmental Management System, are progressing towards their environmental goals, and set collective expectations for the year.

Hecla By the Numbers

335

GHG scopes 1 & 2 emissions intensity (silver-equivalent ounces/metric tonnes CO2 e)

60.89

Energy use intensity (silver-equivalent ounces/mWh)

0.02

 Water usage intensity (silver-equivalent ounces/ gallons used in mining or process operations

Environmental
Management System

We utilize an Environmental Management System (EMS) to encourage company-wide consistency in our environmental programs and promote a culture of environmental awareness, innovation, and accountability across all our operations. We track our environmental data to benchmark Hecla’s operations against industry standards, and we report on progress against our goals to ensure accountability and transparency.

In 2024, employees company-wide completed more than 4,529 hours of environmental training, focusing on job specific environmental awareness, hazardous material management, spill response, and reporting.

The EMS program is benchmarked against ISO-14001:2015 and is complemented by Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative. We conduct an annual internal audit of the EMS at each site, as well as an external audit every three years.

“[Hecla’s] first-class approach serves today—and will continue to serve in the future—as a classic example of how modern mine reclamation can and should be done.”

Lincoln County (MT) Board of County Commissioners