Hecla Mining Co., of Coeur d'Alene, says it will resume production at its Lucky Friday mine during the first quarter of 2013 and expects full production of 2 million ounces of silver from the mine next year.
The federal Mine and Safety Administration had ordered the mine in Mullan, Idaho, closed last January for safety improvements after a couple of accidents last year that killed two miners.
Hecla President and CEO Phillips S. Baker Jr. says in a press release the company has recalled all employees and begun preparatory work there.
Also, Hecla has reported a third-quarter net loss applicable to common shareholders of $1 million, with no stated effect on share value, compared with net income of $55.8 million, or 19 cents a diluted share, in the year-earlier period.
Without Lucky Friday in production, the company says it produced 1.6 million ounces in the third quarter at its Greens Creek property in Alaska, up 19 percent from the previous quarter but down substantially from the 2.3 million ounces of production during the year-earlier period, during which Lucky Friday was operating.