Note 16 - Acquisitions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Business Combination Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 16:  Acquisitions

San Juan Silver Mining Joint Venture 30% Acquisition

On December 12, 2011, we announced that our wholly-owned subsidiary, Rio Grande Silver Inc. (“Rio”), entered into a Purchase Sale Agreement with Emerald Mining & Leasing, LLC ("EML"), Golden 8 Mining, LLC ("G8"), and AgX Resources, Inc. ("AgX"), (EML, G8, and AgX are collectively referred to as the "Sellers").  Under the terms of the Agreement, Rio purchased the Sellers' remaining 30% undivided interest in certain properties that had been governed by a Joint Venture Agreement ("2008 JVA") entered into between EML, G8, and Rio on February 21, 2008, in return for the issuance of 5,395,683 shares of Hecla common stock valued at $33.8 million on the date that the transaction was completed.  The number of common shares issued was based on 90% of the volume-weighted average price of our common shares on the New York Stock Exchange for the 20 trading days immediately preceding and including December 2, 2011.

The original 2008 JVA between EML, G8, and Rio was terminated and a new Joint Venture Agreement for the exploration, evaluation and possible development and mining of mineral resources on certain properties in Mineral County,  Colorado was entered into.  EML, G8, and Rio will manage and operate under the name San Juan Silver Mining Joint Venture, and Rio will be the initial operator.