Lucky Friday Outlook Brightens Exploration Project Reveals Higher-Grade Ore At Silver Valley Mine
Prospects for Hecla Mining Co.’s Lucky Friday mine in Mullan brightened considerably Tuesday as the company announced encouraging exploration results.
Hecla has spent millions this decade poking around the Gold Hunter area of the mine. Despite the name, Hecla’s looking for silver and lead there.
To find out how much silver might be underground, geologists plunge diamond drills into the rock and pull out cores to measure the rock’s mineralization.
The latest round of this drilling showed that parts of the Gold Hunter area contain as much as 50 million ounces of silver.
If drilling results like these continue to support the findings, Hecla will likely spend millions of additional dollars developing the area to production.
That could mean dozens of new, high-paying mining jobs, as well as the continued employment of 150 workers at the Lucky Friday. It also adds to a recent string of encouraging reports from Silver Valley mines that has miners returning to the region they fled earlier this decade.
The Gold Hunter area was mined long ago, but miners didn’t get deep enough to find the good stuff, it appears. Hecla looked 4,000 feet underground for signs of more silver and found them.
As the drill holes went deeper, the vein got richer, said Vicki Veltkamp, manager of corporate communications for Hecla.
Some rock samples contained 50 ounces of silver per ton of rock. That’s encouraging news for a mine that averaged 11 ounces a ton of silver during the last year.
A decision whether to develop the area of the mine will not be made until more geological tests are completed, Veltkamp said. A decision will be made to develop the Gold Hunter area sometime in 1997, she said. If all goes well, the area could add silver and lead to the Lucky Friday’s production totals by 1998.
“Basically, this is a long ride we’re on,” Veltkamp said. “And so far, it’s been a pretty good one for us.”
The more ore that the mine can produce, the lower the cost of getting silver out of the ground.
The nearby Sunshine Mine in Big Creek is using the same theory to make itself more profitable. By doubling output, the mine can lower costs. The Sunshine will add 60 people this year to develop the West Chance area, and will use some of the mechanization methods used in the Lucky Friday to do it.
Producing lower-cost silver could extend the mine’s life for many years, Veltkamp said.
The mine has been only marginally profitable for some time, with silver prices hanging around $5 an ounce in the past two years.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PASSING THE TEST Recent exploration results in the Silver Valley: West Chance in the Sunshine Mine. Sunshine Mining and Refining Co. geologists found areas of the mine contain more than a hundred ounces of silver per ton. Expansion is under way to mine the area, creating 60 new jobs. Coeur, Galena and Caladay mines. Silver Valley Resources has found encouraging new silver veins in these mines. The company plans to reopen the mines, creating 100 new jobs. Gold Hunter. Hecla Mining Co. finds up to 50 ounces of silver per ton of rock in some areas adjacent to the Lucky Friday mine in Mullan. Could be brought into production in 1998.