Hecla Declares First Quarterly Silver Price-Linked Common Stock Dividend and Preferred Dividend

Hecla Mining Company ('Hecla?) (NYSE:HL)
today announced its Board of Directors has declared the first quarterly
silver price-linked dividend under Hecla′s recently announced silver
price-linked dividend policy. The declared dividend is $0.02 per share
of common stock, for a total amount of approximately $5.6 million, based
on an average realized silver price of $37.02 in the third quarter 2011.

'Our Board′s action to declare this first silver price-linked dividend
reflects Hecla′s excellent operating margins and strong financial
position,? said Hecla′s President and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips
S. Baker, Jr. 'We are providing an additional return to our shareholders
in the form of a cash dividend and continue to strengthen balance sheet
and operations while growing our production. This differentiates Hecla
from its precious metals peers and the silver ETFs.?

The cash dividend is payable November 29, 2011, to stockholders of
record on November 18, 2011. There are approximately 279 million shares
of common stock outstanding. Under Hecla′s silver price-linked dividend
policy, it is expected that any quarterly common stock dividend declared
by the Company will be based on Hecla′s average realized silver price
for the preceding quarter. Realized prices are calculated by dividing
gross revenues for each metal by the payable quantities of each metal
included in concentrate and dor? sold during the period. As noted above,
the average realized silver price per ounce was $37.02 in the third
quarter of 2011 compared to the average market price of $38.79 (London
PM Fix). Any quarterly common stock dividend declared by Hecla will
increase or decrease by $0.01 per share ($0.04 annually) for each $5.00
per ounce incremental increase or decrease in the average realized
silver price in the preceding quarter as presented in the table below.

The declaration and payment of dividends remains at the sole discretion
of the Board of Directors and will depend on Hecla′s financial results,
cash requirements (including for preferred dividends, operations,
capital projects, exploration and development, litigation and
settlements, acquisitions, and other items), future prospects and other
factors deemed relevant by the Board. Investors are cautioned that this
new policy is not a guarantee that a dividend will be declared or paid
in any particular period in the future.

The Board of Directors also elected to declare the regular quarterly
dividend of $0.875 per share on the outstanding Series B Cumulative
Convertible Preferred Stock, for a total amount of approximately
$138,000. The cash dividend is payable January 1, 2011, to stockholders
of record on December 15, 2011. There are a total of 157,816 shares of
Preferred ?B Stock outstanding.

ABOUT HECLA

Established in 1891, Hecla Mining Company is the largest and lowest cash
cost silver producer in the U.S. The company has two operating mines and
exploration properties in four world-class silver mining districts in
the U.S. and Mexico.

Cautionary Statements

Statements made which are not historical facts, such as anticipated
payments, litigation outcome (including settlement negotiations),
production, sales of assets, exploration results and plans, costs, and
prices or sales performance are 'forward-looking statements' within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words
such as 'may,? 'will,? 'should,? 'expects,? 'intends,? 'projects,?
'believes,? 'estimates,? 'targets,? 'anticipates? and similar
expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements 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 and costs, environmental and litigation
risks, operating risks, project development risks, political risks,
labor issues, ability to raise financing and exploration risks and
results. Refer to the company's Form 10-K and 10-Q reports for a more
detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results.
The company undertakes no obligation of updating forward-looking
statements other than as may be required by law.

For further information, please contact:

Hecla Mining Company

M?lanie Hennessey

Vice President ?
Investor Relations

Direct: 604-694-7729

Direct Main:
800-HECLA91 (800-432-5291)

hmc-info@hecla-mining.com

www.hecla-mining.com