Hecla Finalizes Deal To Develop Gold Mine

Hecla Mining Co. has finalized an agreement with Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corp. to develop the Rosebud gold mine in Nevada.

Hecla broke ground at the site 50 miles west of Winnemucca in August, and it will manage the mine that should produce about 100,000 ounces of gold for five years.

Santa Fe Pacific will truck the ore to its Twin Creeks mine where it will be processed. The Albuquerque-based company will take half the gold produced from Rosebud for its processing of the rock from the mine.

The agreement saves Hecla millions of dollars that would have been needed to process the rock at the mine. Rosebud should begin to add gold to Hecla’s coffers in the second quarter of 1997.

The new ounces will help offset disappointing results from Hecla’s Grouse Creek and American Girl gold mines. Hecla wrote down its investment in both of those mines. , DataTimes