We are only as good as our people
Hecla is dedicated to investing in technology, training, systems, and programs to protect and support our people. Our commitment to local recruitment and talent management is essential to company performance and our social license to operate.
Hecla’s workforce has been the engine powering its success for over 130 years, which is why our policies and practices related to people have always been integrated into Hecla’s overall business strategy and objectives. The tracking and collecting of human capital management (HCM) data, including new hires, retention, and diversity of our workforce, is an important component of business management and planning. Learn who at our Company is responsible for HCM.
Total Workforce
Direct Workers
Contractors
72% of our total workforce is local to our operations (excluding Greens Creek and Keno Hill)
At the Lucky Friday mine, 76% of new hires in 2023 were from local communities
Several of our mining operations prioritize using local vendors, which helps to build service partnerships, supports local businesses, strengthens the local economy, and minimizes lead time. For example, the company Northwest Mine Supply is an established vendor for Hecla’s mines in the Pacific Northwest and its business is growing along with the mines in the region. Hecla understands the importance of capacity building, and is continually looking for opportunities to provide training, employment, and economic benefits through contracts to businesses owned and operated by members of local communities and Indigenous Peoples.
Hecla supports fundamental human rights in all our operations, including our supply chain, and in all jurisdictions in which it conducts business. We operate in countries where human rights laws are respected and promoted. Our Human Rights Statement discusses our commitment to conduct business in a manner consistent with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Our Casa Berardi mine has been verified as being compliant in accordance with the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Protocol on the Prevention of Child and Forced Labor by an external auditor. While risks related to forced labor are typically low in Canada, Hecla has implemented the preventative measures.
We seek to work with suppliers who share our values and ethical standards. Suppliers are also expected to adhere to the Hecla Code of Conduct, which describes expectations for all suppliers, vendors, and third-party contractors to act ethically when conducting business on Hecla’s behalf. In our Supplier Code of Conduct, we also ask them to commit to respecting fundamental human rights in their own companies and supply chains.
Hecla runs the Excel Program, an internal program for recent graduates that provides experience across multiple mine sites as well as the corporate office over the course of three or four years. Upon graduating from the program, participants take on leadership roles in different areas of the company.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion starts at the top with our Board of Directors and the Board’s Governance and Social Responsibility Committee. Our Board recognizes the benefits of having directors who bring diversity of gender, age, race, ethnicity, and cultural background. In 2017, we had no women on our Board. Currently, 29% of our directors are women, including Board Chair Catherine Boggs, who was elected in 2022.
In general, our workforce reflects the demographics of the communities near our mine sites. Hecla analyzes this trend on a yearly basis in support of our goal to be a responsible employer in the communities where we operate. In 2023, our U.S. workforce was more racially diverse than the communities in which we work, with the exception of our Juneau, Alaska site where the operation has a high percentage of fly in/fly out hourly workers.
Though the mining industry has traditionally had a predominantly male workforce, Hecla seeks to create more opportunities for women in the Company. We participate in the Women in Mining organization, and in 2023, women made up 10% of our total workforce and 22% of our professional/managerial positions. We have implemented programs to foster the hiring and retention of women including the creation of networking opportunities with senior executives and Board members.
For our Casa Berardi mine in Quebec, we provide annual cultural awareness training for all department heads. This training was developed specifically for Hecla in 2021.
Hecla holds companywide DEI training to foster an inclusive, welcoming workplace. Trainings are mandatory and employee participation is monitored and tracked by a third party to ensure actual completion.
We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities and complying with all applicable employment laws in the countries where we operate, as outlined in the “Employee Relations” section of our Code of Conduct.
We seek to hire people with relevant and current skills and qualifications for modern mining operations, and we give them continuous access to training and growth opportunities. Safety and health training requirements for our workforce are specified in Hecla’s Safety and Health Policy, as part of our Safety Health and Management System
In 2023, our employees and contractors received 40,488 hours of health and safety training.
In 2023, site employees company-wide received more than 1,472 hours of environmental training.
