Hecla Reports High Grade Drilling Intercepts at the San Juan Silver Property

Hecla Mining Company ('Hecla?) (NYSE:HL)
today reports it has encountered high-grade intercepts from its drilling
program on the Equity vein at the San Juan Silver property in Creede,
Colorado. The Equity vein is a major structure that extends for over
four miles and recent drilling has identified a high-grade mineralized
zone with 150 to 200 feet of strike length that could have more than
1,400 feet of vertical continuity.

The rehabilitation of the Equity portal on the San Juan Silver property
was completed in the fourth quarter, enabling the year-round underground
drill program to commence in mid-December 2011. There have been 24 holes
and 10,861 feet of drilling since the start of the program, varying in
spacing from 50 to 100 feet. Assay results for 13 drill holes have been
received to date and are included in Table A at the end of the
release. Of particular importance were hole #1255 over a true width of
18.5 feet which assayed .45 ounces of gold per ton and 36.8 ounces of
silver per ton including a zone that had a true width of 6 feet
averaging 1.14 ounces of gold per ton and 90.9 ounces of silver per ton;
and hole #1258 over a true width of 29.6 feet which assayed .11 ounces
of gold per ton including a zone that had a true width of 12.5 feet
averaging .20 ounces of gold per ton and 19.6 ounces of silver per ton.

'This drilling program has just begun and has discovered very high-grade
mineralization,? said Phil Baker, Hecla′s President and CEO. 'Our goal
will be to confirm that high-grade zones defined by recent drilling on
the Equity vein are along the same trend as deeper, significant
intersections from surface. As a result, a new resource could be defined
which could be complimentary to the 37 million ounce silver resource
defined at the nearby Bulldog vein.?

In 2012, the San Juan Silver exploration budget is expected to be
approximately $8.5 ?million. There′s in excess of 35,000 feet of
underground and surface drilling planned in 2012, which will focus on
the Equity and North Amethyst vein structures to define the continuity
of potential resources and identify new mineralized zones.

A longitudinal diagram of the Equity vein with the location of drill
holes is included in Figure 1 in this release.

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, production, sales of assets, exploration
results and plans, prospects and opportunities including reserves,
resources, and mineralization, 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 and regulatory 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 and
has no intention of updating forward-looking statements other than as
may be required by law.

Cautionary Statements to Investors on Reserves and Resources

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 on this release, such as 'resource,? 'other
resources,? and 'mineralized materials? that the SEC guidelines strictly
prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. investors
are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K and Form
10Q. You can review and obtain copies of these filings from the SEC′s
website at www.sec.gov.

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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