HECLA MINING CO/DE/

Item 1A. – Risk Factors of our 2025 Form 10-K set forth information relating to important risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or operating results. Except as set forth below, there have been no material changes to those risk factors. The risk factors below, which include a new risk factor relating to Keno Hill, should be read in conjunction with those risk factors.

The growth opportunities described in this report are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.

The growth opportunities discussed elsewhere in this report, including the Greens Creek pyrite concentrate circuit, the Greens Creek tailings reprocessing project, and the potential restart of our Midas mill (collectively, the “Growth Projects”), are in early stages of technical and economic evaluation and are subject to the following risks:

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the costs of developing new orebodies, processing circuits, or facilities, and the risk that capital and operating costs may be higher, and returns lower, than currently estimated;

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our ability to obtain and maintain permits and other governmental approvals on the timeline anticipated, or at all, including as a result of environmental, regulatory, or third-party review processes;

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uncertainty in mineral resource and exploration estimates, including, with respect to the Midas restart, the risk that further exploration and delineation may not identify mineral resources sufficient to support a sustainable restart of operations;

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the performance of new or modified metallurgical processes at a commercial scale, including with respect to the potential pyrite concentrate circuit and reprocessing of tailings at Greens Creek, which may differ materially from projected results and results obtained in preliminary testing; and

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fluctuations in silver, gold, and other metals prices, which may significantly affect the economic attractiveness of these Growth Projects and may differ materially from the prices assumed in our current evaluations.

In addition, the Growth Projects are subject to the risks described in Part I, Item 1A of our 2025 Form 10-K, including, without limitation, the following risks:

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We are required to obtain governmental permits and other approvals in order to conduct mining operations.

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Legal challenges could prevent exploration projects from being developed or existing mines from future expansion.

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Our costs of extending existing reserves or development of new orebodies and other capital costs may be higher and provide less return than we estimated.

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Our mineral reserve and resource estimates may be imprecise.

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A substantial or extended decline in metals prices would have a material adverse effect on us.

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Mine closure and reclamation regulations impose substantial costs on our operations and include requirements that we provide financial assurance supporting those obligations. These costs could significantly increase and we might not be able to provide financial assurance.

Any decision to proceed with development of these projects would require further technical, economic, and regulatory review and approval by management and, where applicable, our Board of Directors. There is no assurance that any of these projects will be developed, or that if developed, will be profitable or completed on the timeline, at the cost, or with the results currently projected.

Production at Keno Hill will decline beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026 and could be further curtailed or suspended until permit amendments are obtained and related infrastructure is built.

Keno Hill’s mill has recently operated near its permitted maximum annual average of 440 tons per day, but our current quartz mining license and water license do not provide the tailings storage, waste rock and water treatment capacity needed to sustain that rate. As a result, milled tons are expected to decline in the fourth quarter of 2026 to approximately 300 tons per day, and are expected to decline further beginning in January 2027 to levels significantly below third quarter 2026 throughput. We expect throughput to remain at reduced levels until amended licenses are obtained, which we currently estimate could occur by approximately mid-2029 following review by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board of a project proposal we intend to submit by year-end 2026, and until the related infrastructure is constructed. We expect this period to be one of lower revenue and higher costs at Keno Hill. Even at the reduced rate, our capacity to manage tailings, waste rock and production water may be even further constrained and may be exhausted if the next phase of our dry-stack tailings facility is not permitted and constructed during the 2029 construction season or if the license amendments are not received in 2029. The review and licensing process involves multiple sequential steps outside our control, including the Yukon Government’s consultation with the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (“FNNND”), which has indicated an interest in revisiting our Comprehensive Cooperation and Benefits Agreement, including its unresolved wealth-sharing provisions; any resolution of those provisions is likely to require ongoing payments to the FNNND. Delays at any step, restrictions on temporary waste rock stockpiling, or reduced power supply from Yukon Energy could require further curtailment or a halt to production. If permits or infrastructure are delayed, or if silver prices decline materially, we could place Keno Hill on care and maintenance and could be required to record an impairment of its long-lived assets, which could be material. See also the risk factors in Part I, Item 1A of our 2025 Form 10-K, “We are required to obtain governmental permits and other approvals in order to conduct mining operations,” “Certain of our mines and exploration properties are located on land that is or may become subject to, competing title claims and/or claims of cultural significance,” and“We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits from our acquisitions, including our 2022 acquisition of Alexco.”