Hecla Mining Pares Its Losses

Hecla Mining Co. lost $5.6 million during the third quarter, company officials reported Tuesday.

The loss amounted to 8 cents per share.

The company had a $36 million loss due to environmental costs and write-downs during the third quarter of 1999.

Hecla is taking steps to increase its cash reserve, which fell from $11.6 million to $4.5 million in the latest three months.

Hecla’s management is working to reduce overhead costs, defer discretionary spending and sell assets, said Art Brown, Hecla’s chairman, CEO and president.

Hecla is continuing to evaluate the potential sale of its industrial minerals subsidiary, Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Co., Brown said. “I am confident we can achieve a comfortable cash position by the end of the year,” he said.

Production of gold, silver and industrial minerals increased during the first nine months of the year. Hecla’s La Camorra gold mine in Venezuela, which came on line last year, helped lower costs and boost the company’s gold production.

The Lucky Friday Mine near Mullan, Idaho, is on track to produce more than 5 million ounces of silver this year. However, the company’s silver segment suffered from lower-grade ores at the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska, lower metals prices and higher energy costs.