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Gold/Mining/Energy : Hecla Mining(HL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Roebear who wrote (434)	2/2/1999 12:11:00 PM
From: donald martin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 629

Doesn't seem right market should move so much on that news. FWIW, I got some today; seems to me there's little or no downside risk now.

To: Roebear who wrote (434)	2/2/1999 2:26:00 PM
From: Terrence Von Holidae	Respond to of 629

I'll give Hecla a call to clarify the problem and report back. Terrence

To: Roebear who wrote (434)	2/2/1999 3:25:00 PM
From: Terrence Von Holidae	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 629

Roebear, I've spoken to Hecla's Investor Relations representative, Vicki Velkamp, and have the following to report: - The Lucky Friday mine is expected to be operating before the week is out, "probably, in the next couple of days," as Vicki put it. The operating shaft was not affected by the fall-in and remains in good operational condition. The affected area is the "secondary escapery," an emergency exit shaft "quite a distance from the main operational- shaft." The final guides and dividers are being placed and tested as I write. - Arthur Brown, among other officers, have purchased additional common shares in the past 30 days; a filing should be published soon. Management is concerned about the lagging stock performance but ascribe it to a lack of conviction in silver maintaining its recent strength. This is the conclusion, I and you, probably, have drawn also. We both suspect silver will fool the consensus, however, with continued price improvement. - February 11th marks the day of financial results reported to the public. The general consensus is a loss exceeding past quarters because of low lead, zinc and silver/gold prices persisting this past quarter. The company, however, continues to rein in cost with staff reductions, etc., and yet continues to rank as one of the lowest cost producers among its peers. _ The property in Alaska to be explored in partnership with Kennecott will likely yield preliminary exploration results sometime next summer as activity comes into full swing. Noche Buena, an additional property near the closing La Choya mine shows promise and will be reviewed for development this year, as well. If development commences, movement of equipment will be expedited because of close proximity to the La Choya mine. I suspect development will result. - Chile and Peru properties will undergo greater efforts toward exploring minable cores this year too. The efforts above, however, are much closer to development than these concessions. - The company continues to review potential acquisitions and mergers as indicated by Vicki. Finally, my own impression of the conversation is a positive one for improving company performance despite weakness in commodity prices. But, as Vicki indicated, the company is set to perform very well in lieu of higher commodity prices as that is "all we're waiting for." My greatest concern, however, is that this conviction be supported by Officer buying in the common shares; this was borne out by the activity mentioned above. Say a prayer for us asking God to provide the means needed to avail ourselves of Hecla's attractive stock price, for I do not believe it will remain much longer and I wish I had more than I do. Your Friend, Terrence.