Record silver boosts Hecla

Hecla Mining Co. produced a record 11.1 million ounces of silver last year and reported sales of more than $500 million, officials said Wednesday.

Strong production at the company’s Greens Creek Mine in Alaska and the Lucky Friday Mine in Mullan, Idaho, helped the company’s 2014 earnings.

Hecla reported fourth quarter income of $16.8 million, or 5 cents per share, compared to a loss of $3 million, or 1 cent per share, for the fourth quarter of 2013.

For 2014, the company reported income of $17.3 million, or 5 cents per share, compared to a loss of $25.7 million, or 8 cents per share, in 2013.

In other news, Hecla officials said a new shaft at the Lucky Friday Mine is 75 percent complete, and should be finished next year.

The $215 million shaft project will allow the Coeur d’Alene-based company to access deeper ore at the underground silver mine. Production from those deeper areas should begin in 2018, after additional mine development work is done, officials said.

Hecla also made a final, $55.4 million payment to the federal government in 2014, which concluded the company’s financial obligation in a Superfund settlement over historic mine waste in the Coeur d’Alene River basin.

Nestle to omit fake flavors

Chocolate lovers in the U.S. can kiss artificial flavors and colors in Butterfingers, Crunch and Baby Ruth bars goodbye, as Nestle aims to become the first U.S. candymaker to remove such ingredients from its chocolate products.

Nestle USA announced this week that it will remove artificial flavors and FDA-certified colors from all of its chocolate candy. By the end of the year, more than 250 products and 10 brands will be free of artificial flavors and certified colors.

The reformulated candy bars will begin appearing on shelves by midyear.

Doreen Ida, president of Nestle USA Confections & Snacks, said in a statement the company conducted research on such brands as Butterfinger and found U.S. consumers prefer candy brands to be free from artificial flavors and colors.

Nestle will replace artificial flavors and colors with ingredients from natural sources. For example, in Crunch bars, a natural vanilla flavor will replace artificial vanilla used now. The center of the Butterfinger bars will now have annatto, which comes from the seeds found in fruit from the achiote tree, to replace FDA-certified colors like Red 40 and Yellow 5.

“When making these changes to more than 75 recipes, maintaining the great taste and appearance consumers expect from the chocolate brands they know and love is our No. 1 priority,” Leslie Mohr, Nestle’s nutrition, health and wellness manager said in a statement.

Caterpillar subpoenaed

NEW YORK – The U.S. government is investigating how Caterpillar has been moving cash between its business units in the U.S. and overseas, the construction equipment company said Wednesday.

Caterpillar said it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois on Jan. 8 that asked for financial information related to undistributed profits of non-U.S. subsidiaries and cash movements. Caterpillar did not give further details but said it is cooperating with the investigation and that it should not affect its business or finances.

The company disclosed the investigation in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing also said, separately, that the SEC told Caterpillar in September it was conducting an “informal investigation” of the company’s affiliate in Switzerland called Caterpillar SARL.