While it’s discouraging to see the number of Spokane-area publicly traded companies dwindle yet again with its announcement that Mines Management Inc. will be acquired, it’s heartening that another Inland Northwest company, Hecla Mining Co., is the acquirer in this instance. 

Assuming the transaction garners shareholder approval and is completed in the third quarter as projected, Hecla will be tasked with developing Mines Management’s main property, the Montanore project. Located in northwestern Montana, Montanore is considered one of the largest undeveloped silver and copper deposits in North America. 

Hecla, having recently celebrated 125 years in business, has experience in managing large mining projects, and it has the financial strength to take on a project of this scale. While proximity isn’t essential, it doesn’t hurt that Hecla’s Rock Creek project is 10 miles from the Montanore site—and its Lucky Friday mine, in Wallace, Idaho, is about 50 miles away. 

Mines Management has worked since 2005 to garner federal and state permits to move forward with the Montanore project, and it has faced disputes over claim ownership and rights to the site. It also has worked to address environmental sensitivities of mining in the Cabinet Mountains and within a wildlife habitat. The years-long process appeared to be taking its toll. Mines Management faced—and staved off—delisting by the New York Stock Exchange last year, and it sold some equipment and raised $1.25 million to continue operating. 

The company estimated late last year that it would cost $500 million to start the Montanore project, and at that time, CEO Glenn M. Dobbs said selling Montanore was one of three options the company was looking at—the others being developing the property itself or entering into a joint venture with a well-established mining concern. With those being the options, selling to a company such as Hecla appears to be a favorable scenario for Mines Management’s shareholders—and potentially Hecla’s investors as well. 

The pending Mines Management acquisition is the second of its kind for Hecla in the past 12 months. The company completed its acquisition of Revett Mining Co. in June 2015 and took over the previously mentioned Rock Creek project at that time. 

Like Mines Management, Revett was a small company with a large proposed mining project in an environmentally sensitive area—located underneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area. In announcing both acquisitions, Hecla CEO Phillips S. Baker drew parallels to the company’s Greens Creek, which is located in a national monument in Alaska, and mentioned the company’s commitment to an environmentally responsible approach. 

Though the acquisition appears to be the right move for both parties, the number of publicly traded Inland Northwest-based companies falls to nine. Just five years ago, 16 publicly traded companies had their headquarters here. 

That alarming trend is cause for a different conversation. For now, we’ll be grateful that, in this instance, an Inland Northwest company is the purchaser.