Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL):

Not for Distribution to United States Newswire Services or for Dissemination in the United States

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) (“Hecla”) announced today that a wholly owned subsidiary of Hecla entered into a subscription agreement to acquire ownership of 1,000,000 common shares (“Shares”) of Dolly Varden Silver Corporation (“Dolly Varden”).

Immediately prior to entering into the subscription agreement, Hecla, through its wholly owned subsidiary Hecla Canada Ltd. (“Hecla Canada”), controlled 4,478,087 Shares and an aggregate of 1,351,762 warrants. Of those warrants, 1,250,000 warrants entitle Hecla Canada to acquire one additional Share each at a price of $0.30 per Share and are exercisable for a period ending September 30, 2018. The balance of 101,762 warrants entitle Hecla Canada to acquire one additional Share each at an exercise price of $0.70 per Share for a period ending July 26, 2018. Assuming exercise of only the warrants held by Hecla Canada, Hecla owned and controlled an aggregate of 5,829,849 Shares, or approximately 15.2% of the Shares on a partially diluted basis.

As of September 6, 2017, pursuant to the ancillary rights agreement between Hecla Canada and Dolly Varden made September 4, 2012 (the “ARA”), Hecla Canada agreed to acquire from Dolly Varden in a private placement, an additional 1,000,000 Shares at a price of $0.73 each. The Shares which Hecla Canada has agreed to acquire will be issued as part of a larger private placement being completed concurrently by Dolly Varden.

As a consequence, Hecla, through Hecla Canada, now controls or is deemed to control 5,478,087 Shares, 1,250,000 warrants each entitling the holder to acquire upon exercise one Share at an exercise price of $0.30 per Share, and 101,762 warrants each entitling the holder to acquire upon exercise one Share at an exercise price of $0.70 per Share. Assuming exercise of only the warrants held by Hecla Canada and completion of the concurrent private placement by Dolly Varden, Hecla owns and controls or is deemed to own and control an aggregate of 6,829,849 Shares, or approximately 15.2% of the Shares on a partially diluted basis.

The Shares will be acquired for investment purposes by Hecla. Hecla does not have any present intention to acquire ownership of, or control over, additional securities of Dolly Varden. It is the intention of Hecla to evaluate its investment in Dolly Varden on a continuing basis and such holdings may be increased or decreased in the future.

For the purposes of National Instrument 62-103, the address of Hecla is 6500 N. Mineral Drive, Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 83815, USA.

About Hecla

Established in 1891, Hecla Mining Company is a leading low-cost U.S. silver producer with operating mines in Alaska, Idaho and Mexico and is a growing gold producer with an operating mine in Quebec, Canada. The Company also has exploration and pre-development properties in seven world-class silver and mining districts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and an exploration office and investments in early-stage exploration projects in Canada.

Cautionary Statements

Statements made which are not historical facts, such as anticipated payments, litigation outcome (including settlement negotiations), production, sales of assets, exploration results and plans, costs, and prices or sales performance are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “targets,” “anticipates” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated, expected or implied. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, metals price volatility, volatility of metals production and costs, environmental and litigation risks, operating and regulatory risks, project development risks, political and regulatory risks, labor issues, ability to raise financing and exploration risks and results. Refer to the company’s Form 10-K and 10-Q reports for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The company undertakes no obligation and has no intention of updating forward-looking statements other than as may be required by law.

For further information, or to obtain a copy of the early warning report filed in connection with Hecla’s holdings in Dolly Varden, please contact:

Hecla Mining Company
Jeanne DuPont
Corporate Communications Coordinator
Investor and Public Relations
1-800-HECLA91 (1-800-432-5291)
hmc-info@hecla-mining.com