Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Cash [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	1.00%	1.00%
Cash [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	1.00%	2.00%
Large Cap U.S. Equity [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	9.00%	11.00%
Large Cap U.S. Equity [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	9.00%	12.00%
Small Cap U.S. Equity [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	6.00%	4.00%
Small Cap U.S. Equity [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	6.00%	6.00%
Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	9.00%	10.00%
Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	9.00%	10.00%
Fixed Income Funds [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	32.00%	33.00%
Fixed Income Funds [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	32.00%	30.00%
Real Estate [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	20.00%	18.00%
Real Estate [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	20.00%	19.00%
Hedge Funds [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	15.00%	13.00%
Hedge Funds [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	15.00%	14.00%
Real Return [Member] | Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	8.00%	10.00%
Real Return [Member] | Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	8.00%	7.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	100.00%	100.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations Of Investments And Measurement Dates By Asset Category [Line Items]
Allocations of investment, percent	100.00%	100.00%