Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	100.00%	100.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Cash [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	2.00%	3.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Large Cap U.S. Equity [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	10.00%	11.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Small Cap U.S. Equity [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	5.00%	6.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	9.00%	8.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	34.00%	34.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Real Estate [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	18.00%	15.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Hedge Funds [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	15.00%	14.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Real Return [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	7.00%	9.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	100.00%	100.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Cash [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	4.00%	1.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Large Cap U.S. Equity [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	10.00%	11.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Small Cap U.S. Equity [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	5.00%	6.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	9.00%	10.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	33.00%	34.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Real Estate [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	18.00%	16.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Hedge Funds [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	14.00%	15.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Real Return [Member]
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items]
Asset categories	7.00%	7.00%