Laura Skaer, executive director of Spokane-based American Exploration & Mining Association, says capital is returning to the U.S. mining industry, and investors and mining concerns are putting ventures together to back new projects.

Skaer, fresh from the association’s annual meeting held earlier this month in Reno, Nev., asserts, “There was a good vibe at the convention. People were upbeat and optimistic.”

She says those sentiments are likely due to an improved regulatory climate from the industry perspective under the Trump administration.

Skaer says, however, she’s still trying to figure out what’s happening with gold prices, which haven’t followed the normal climbing trend in times of international turbulence.

For example, she says, gold prices haven’t responded much to missile and nuclear tests in North Korea.

As of Dec. 11, the market price for gold was $1,243 per troy ounce, up from $1,163 a year earlier, but down from the 2017 peak of $1,350 on Sept. 11.

Meantime, the market price for silver was $15.77 per troy ounce as of Dec. 12, down from $17.11 a year earlier, and a 2017 peak of $18.55 on April 13.

Skaer says industry optimism is rooted in hope for improvement in the permitting timelines for exploration and mine development.

Production in the North Idaho’s Silver Valley will depend on whether and when the nine-month strike at Hecla Mining Co.’s Lucky Friday Mine near Wallace is resolved, she says.

“It’s a big difference maker in how much production comes out of the Silver Valley,” Skaer says.

Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla reported third-quarter net income of $1.3 million, down steeply compared with net income of $25.7 million in the year-earlier quarter, due in part to lost production at Lucky Friday and exploration and development costs at its Casa Berardi Mine, in Quebec, Canada, and San Sebastian Mine, in Mexico. The company also experienced mark-to-market losses on base metal derivatives driven by higher zinc and led prices.

Phillips S. Baker, Hecla CEO, however, recently told the Journal of Business that 2017 has been a strong year for the company because of record third-quarter gold production of 63,000 troy ounces, up 21 percent from the year-earlier quarter, while overall capital expenses dropped 44 percent.

Looking ahead, he said explorations that will lead to future development and production have exceeded expectations.

Hecla hopes next year to begin early exploration at the Montanore project that the company bought last year in northwest Montana.

Coeur d’Alene-based New Jersey Mining Co., which owns the New Jersey Mill, in Kellogg, Idaho, started underground production in November at the Golden Chest Mine, near Murray, and 2018 will be the first full year of both open pit and underground operations at the gold mine.

John Swallow, the company’s president and CEO, says “sufficiently attractive” results from recent test drilling indicates further exploration is warranted to better define the mine’s expansion potential.

“The Golden Chest project represents an excellent opportunity for continued mine development, and we will continue to pursue near-term and long-term expansion potential,” Swallow says.