Mr. Phillips Baker Jr. of Hecla reports

HECLA COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ATAC RESOURCES AND RESTARTS CASA BERARDI

Hecla Mining Company has completed the Atac Resources Ltd. acquisition.

"With the Atac acquisition, we continue to execute our strategy of acquiring large land packages with significant exploration potential in favourable mining jurisdictions," said Phillips S. Baker Jr., Hecla president and chief executive officer. "The Rackla and Connaught properties in the Yukon are a massive land package of over 700 square miles (1830 square kilometres), almost half the size of Rhode Island, with identified gold, silver and base metal mineralization. As a result of previous investment in exploration by Atac, Hecla is not obligated for the next decade to make significant expenditures to maintain control of the land package, so while we will advance the exploration as quickly as possible, we will have flexibility on our pace of spending."

Mr. Baker Jr. continued: "The acquisition further cements our position in the Yukon, with our Keno Hill mine going into production in the third quarter. Keno Hill is expected to produce more than 2.5 million ounces of silver in 2023 and to become Canada's largest and highest-grade primary silver mine. We look forward to continuing to build our relationships with the Na-Cho Nyak Dun and Tr'ondek Hwech'in Han First Nations and the Yukon territory through our work at Keno Hill and the Rackla and Connaught properties."

Details of Atac transaction

Hecla acquired all the outstanding shares of Atac for total consideration of approximately $18.8-million (U.S.) in Hecla common stock with the issuance of 3,676,904 shares to Atac shareholders based on the share exchange ratio of 0.166 of Hecla share for each Atac common share. As part of the acquisition, Hecla acquired 5,502,956 units consisting of (i) shares of Cascadia Minerals Ltd. representing a 19.9-per-cent stake, and (ii) full warrants with a five-year term for a $2-million (Canadian) cash investment. Cascadia will be managed by the former management of Atac, who will explore specific properties in the Yukon and British Columbia. Hecla will have the right to appoint two directors to Cascadia's board.

Restart of Casa Berardi mine

Hecla also announced that Casa Berardi successfully restarted operations on June 29 following the partial lifting of Quebec's ban on access to the road to the mine. All mining and processing activities have resumed normally.

The impact of the suspension and restart on Casa Berardi's production and cost guidance is expected to be updated in the second quarter earnings release.

About Hecla Mining Company

Founded in 1891, Hecla Mining is the largest silver producer in the United States. In addition to operating mines in Alaska, Idaho and Quebec, Canada, the company is developing a mine in the Yukon, Canada, and owns several exploration and predevelopment projects in world-class silver and gold mining districts throughout North America.

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