The Lucky Friday silver mine, in Idaho, US, will return to full production this quarter, owner Hecla Mining reported on Monday, stating that its ramp-up following a several-year-long strike of unionised workers was ahead of schedule.
Union employees at Lucky Friday were on strike from March 2017 until January 2020, when a new collective bargaining agreement was signed.
Hecla started restaffing the mine in the first quarter of 2020 and reported that it had substantially completed the process.
With the mine resuming full production, Lucky Friday is forecast to produce more than three-million ounces of silver in 2021.
Hecla has increased its guidance for Lucky Friday by 200 000 oz to a range of 1.8-million to 2-million ounces this year. The miner also added 200 000 oz to its outlook for the Alaska-based Greens Creek mine, which is now forecast to produce 10.2-million to 10.5-million ounces of silver this year.
In its third-quarter production report, Hecla updated its 2020 guidance for silver to between 12.8-million and 13.4-million ounces at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of between 11.75/oz and $12.25/oz.
The miner would also produce 200 000 oz to 207 000 oz of gold, at an AISC of $1 300/oz to $1 350/oz.
In the September, quarter, Hecla produced 3.5-million ounces of silver and 41 174 oz of gold, as well as 9 750 t of lead and 17 997 t of zinc.
The precious metals miner reported third-quarter net income of $13.5-million, or $0.03 a share, compared with net loss of $19.7-million, or $0.04 a share, for the same period a year ago.