Hecla acquires interest in Dolly Varden Silver Corp.

Hecla Mining Co. announced Tuesday it has acquired an interest in Dolly Varden Silver Corp., a Canadian firm with silver mines in northwestern British Columbia.

Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla paid $3.2 million for 20 million common shares of Dolly Varden, giving Hecla control of nearly 20 percent of the company’s stock and a seat on its board.

Dolly Varden’s holdings include the Eskay Creek Mine, a similar deposit type to Hecla’s Greens Creek Mine near Juneau, Alaska.

Hecla also operates the Lucky Friday Mine at Mullan, Idaho, and owns the historic Star Mine complex in the Silver Valley and silver properties in Mexico and Colorado.

The investment in Dolly Varden will allow Hecla “to participate in the re-emergence of a historic silver district with outstanding exploration and development potential,” said President and CEO Phillips Baker Jr.

Hecla recently failed to acquire a competing silver producer through a hostile takeover. U.S. Silver Corp.’s shareholders rejected Hecla’s cash offer of about $109 million, and voted instead to merge with a Canadian firm, RX Gold & Silver.