Hecla Announces New Additions to Management Team for Lucky Friday Mine, Technical Services and Safety
Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL)
today announced the appointments of Ed Sutich as Vice President and
General Manager of the Lucky Friday mine, John Jordan as the new Vice
President of Technical Services, and Michael Wegleitner as Director of
Health and Safety.
'We are pleased to announce the further strengthening of the Hecla
management team as the company prepares for its next level of growth,?
said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla′s President and Chief Executive
Officer. 'These professionals have a combined 88 years of mining
experience, and we are confident in their ability to deliver on our
continued and relentless focus on the highest levels of mine safety,
planned mine development, and expected silver production increases.?
Ed Sutich, with over 30 years of mining experience, is the new Vice
President and General Manager of the Lucky Friday mine. For the last six
years, he was the Manager of Underground Development for Freeport
Indonesia. For the 12 years prior to Freeport, ?Mr. Sutich held various
positions for Newmont on the Carlin Trend and in Uzbekistan, the last
position being the Underground Manager of the Deep Post Mine. Prior to
Newmont, Mr. Sutich worked for Independence Jerritt Canyon, Cominco
Buckhorn, Freeport Indonesia, and Newmont San Manuel. Ed holds a mining
engineering degree from the University of Nevada, Reno.
John Jordan, a mining engineer with 33 years of experience, is joining
the corporate team as Vice President of Technical Services with
responsibility for mining engineering, geotechnical engineering,
metallurgy, feasibility studies, and continuous improvement. In addition
to his previous position as Vice President and General Manager of the
Lucky Friday mine, Mr. Jordan was with Coeur d′Alene Mines for two
years, his last position as General Manager of the Galena mine. He also
worked for Stillwater, TVX, Sunshine, Kennecott ? and also previously
with Hecla at the Sherman mine. Mr. Jordan has both a bachelor′s and a
master′s degree in mining engineering from the University of Idaho and
the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology, respectively.
Michael J. Wegleitner has been appointed as the Director of Safety and
Health. He was previously Health and Safety Manager with over 25 years
of experience as a health and safety professional in the mining,
construction and energy industries, most recently as Health and Safety
Manager with Rio Tinto at their Simandou Iron Ore Project and from 2006
to 2011 at Rio′s Resolution Copper Mining operation in Superior,
Arizona. Mr. Wegleitner holds an M.S. in Occupational Safety &
Health/Environmental Management from Columbia Southern University, and a
B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from North Dakota State
University. In his previous work, he has helped garner top safety
awards, including two separate MSHA Sentinels of Safety Awards and seven
MSHA Sentinels of Safety Merit Awards between 2001 and 2010.
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.
Hecla Mining Company
Jim Sabala, Senior VP/CFO, 208-209-1255
800-HECLA91
(800-432-5291)
hmc-info@hecla-mining.com
www.hecla-mining.com
