An Idaho-based mining company completed the purchase of the Revett Mining Company on June 15.
At a stockholders meeting in Spokane Valley, Washington in early June, Revett stockholders approved a proposed merger between that company and the Hecla Mining Company, a multi-million dollar corporation with operations in Idaho, Alaska and Quebec, Canada. Under the terms of the transaction, Hecla acquired all outstanding shares of Revett for about $19 million in Hecla stock, to be paid in cash rather than fractional stock.
“We welcome the Revett shareholders to Hecla and share their vision of seeing Rock Creek becoming a large, responsibly operated, silver mine,” said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla’s President and CEO, in a press release.
As part of the acquisition, Hecla plans on permanently closing and remediating the Troy Mine. The copper and silver mine in Lincoln County ran from 1981 until 1993 and then again from 2005 to this year. It was the county’s last operating mine.
Hecla was established in 1891 and owns two silver mines, the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska and the Lucky Silver Mine in Mullan, Idaho. It also owns an underground gold mine in western Quebec. The Lucky Silver Mine has been open since 1942. In 2014, it produced an average of 850 tons of ore per day and 3.2 million ounces of silver.
Hecla officials said they were interested in the Rock Creek project because of its untapped potential. Rock Creek, located near Noxon, is considered one of the largest undeveloped silver and copper deposits in North America.