www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, February 10, 2003 - 10:51:37 AM By: Press Releases BW0059  FEB 10,2003       5:02 PACIFIC      08:02 EASTERN ( BW)(ID-HECLA-MINING)(HL)

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho-- Feb. 10, 2003--Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) produced a record amount of gold and silver during 2002 at very low costs of production. Hecla mined 240,000 ounces of gold in 2002. The La Camorra gold mine in Venezuela was Hecla's primary gold producer, contributing 167,000 ounces of gold in 2002. This is the largest annual gold production in the company's 112-year history.

Hecla also produced a record amount of silver, mining approximately 8.7 million ounces during 2002. Silver production came from Hecla's San Sebastian mine, which produced more than 3.4 million ounces, the Greens Creek mine in Alaska, at more than 3.2 million ounces, and the Lucky Friday mine in northern Idaho, producing 2 million ounces of silver. Hecla's news release containing complete operating and financial results for 2002 is scheduled for release tomorrow, February 11.

The company estimates that production in 2003 will be approximately 215,000 ounces of gold and 9 million ounces of silver. Hecla's low-cost profile is expected to be maintained, with total average cash costs in 2003 estimated at $150 per ounce of gold and $2.15 per ounce of silver.

Hecla President and Chief Operating Officer Phillips S. Baker, Jr., said, "2002 was a great year for Hecla. We have some excellent properties that exceeded our expectations for performance and give us a good base for future growth."

EXPLORATION

In addition to an outstanding year operationally, Hecla's exploration programs continue to turn up good results. Baker said, "While more drilling is required, Hecla could have four development/production ramps under construction by year end."

One prospective target is Hecla's Block B project in Venezuela. The Block B lease was acquired by Hecla in September 2002 from the Venezuelan government, and is a seven-square-mile property in an historically rich gold mining district. Hecla is currently focusing on an area adjacent to and below the old Chile mine, which produced more than 550,000 ounces of gold at an average ore grade of more than one ounce of gold per ton. The Chile mine was shut down near the end of World War II due to war events and technical difficulties which are no longer an issue. Hecla began drilling on the property in the fourth quarter of 2002 and initial assays are extremely encouraging. More than 4,000 meters of exploration drilling were completed during the fourth quarter at Block B.

Hecla's drilling program on Block B is aimed at confirming and expanding a resource previously identified by CVG-Minerven, the Venezuelan government-owned mining company. That resource was estimated to have an average grade of about 0.63 ounce of gold per ton. Baker said, "Our preliminary efforts at Block B have confirmed the previously identified resource, and we have decided to proceed with a feasibility study and further drilling to expand the resource into a mineable property. The timetable for Block B, if all goes well, could be to have it in commercial production in about 24 to 30 months. This new mine would greatly supplement our gold production in Venezuela."

Exploration work also continues on the Betzy vein at Hecla's La Camorra gold mine in Venezuela, about 70 miles south of the Block B property. La Camorra produced 167,000 ounces of gold for Hecla in 2002, and continues to be the company's largest revenue producer. Underground drilling between the -425 and -500 meter elevation levels on the Betzy vein has increased the estimated strike length on the east flank of the Betzy ore shoot from 150 meters to over 200 meters, into an area previously thought to be waste. "These encouraging high-grade results could lead to an expanded life for the mine," said Baker. "La Camorra is a narrow vein, underground hardrock mine, which is exactly Hecla's area of expertise. We have been able to replace the reserves that we've mined in the past, and these results from our latest exploration efforts indicate that we should be able to continue to find reserves at a deeper level."

Recent drilling on the Betzy vein returned assay results including 1 ounce of gold per ton over 2.6 meters, 0.76 ounce of gold per ton over 2 meters and 3.27 ounces of gold per ton over 2 meters.

Hecla has also been focusing attention on the Canaima property, located 9 kilometers northeast of the main La Camorra mine in Venezuela, where an inferred resource of 400,000 tons at a grade of  0.55 ounce of gold per ton was earlier identified based on drilling by Monarch Resources. Hecla is conducting a combination of hydrologic and geotechnical studies, as well as a drilling program to confirm the previous resource information. Initial drilling results have confirmed and possibly upgraded the original multi-vein resource estimate. (see table)

*T                                   Horizontal     Gold  Hole            From       To      Width        Assay Number         (meters)  (meters)  (meters) (grams/tonne)  Vein

SC-56            50.65     52.06     1.44        12.45      HW1 SC-56           124.30    125.70     1.31        79.93       MU SC-56           131.77    137.83     6.36        56.81       ML SC-57            77.60     78.45     0.77        42.66      HW2 SC-57           116.70    119.65     2.77         2.38       MU SC-57           127.12    130.50     2.82       138.50       ML SC-58           147.74    156.94     7.58        17.62       MU SC-58           162.90    169.10     5.69        24.12       ML                 SC-59        lost hole SC-60            76.50     80.35     3.15        13.18      HW1 SC-60           154.50    155.05     0.47         1.04       MU SC-60           160.25    161.60     1.37         9.26       ML *T

Baker said, "We are very pleased with the high-grade results at Canaima, with assays coming in even better than expected. A feasibility study for Canaima is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year. This property could very well be the next addition to our Venezuelan production within the next 18 to 24 months."

Baker also said, "Due to excellent exploration results on several fronts, Hecla increased its exploration expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2002 to nearly $3 million. As progress warrants, we could easily see continuing to make those kinds of expenditures throughout 2003. With this significantly increased exploration program, our intent over the next couple of years is to not only replace ore we have mined out during the year, but also to increase reserves and expand Hecla's production capacity."

In Mexico, an aggressive drilling program during the fourth quarter on the Don Sergio vein on the Cerro Pedernalillo project sets the stage for the 2003 drilling program and feasibility study for ramp development. Cerro Pedernalillo is located about 6 kilometers south of Hecla's San Sebastian silver mine. Baker said, "This whole area holds tremendous promise for future discovery. We have a lot of ground to cover, but hope to discover additional mineable resources here."

Hecla Mining Company, headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, mines and processes silver and gold in the United States, Venezuela and Mexico. A 112-year-old company, Hecla has long been well known in the mining world and financial markets as a quality silver and gold producer. Hecla's common and preferred shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols HL and HL-PrB.

Statements made which are not historical facts, such as anticipated payments, litigation outcome, production, sales of assets, exploration results and plans, costs, prices or sales performance are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated, expected or implied. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, metals price volatility, volatility of metals production, exploration risks and results, project development risks and ability to raise financing. Refer to the company's Form 10-Q and 10-K reports for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The company undertakes no obligation and has no intention of updating forward-looking statements.

Cautionary Note to Investors -- The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this news release, such as "resource" and "inferred resources," that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in our filing with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form S-1, File No. 333-100395. You can review and obtain copies of these filings from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

CONTACT: Hecla Mining Company, Coeur d'Alene              Vicki J. Veltkamp, 208/769-4144              www.hecla-mining.com