Hecla Mining (HL) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Wed, Nov. 4, 2026

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations - Michael Parkin
• President and Chief Executive Officer - Robert L. Krcmarov
• Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer - Russell D. Lawlar
• Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer - Carlos Aguiar
• Vice President of Operations - Brian Erickson
• Vice President of Exploration - Kurt Allen
• Vice President and General Counsel - Patrick Malone

TAKEAWAYS

• Revenue from Continuing Operations -- $395 million, an 18% increase over the second quarter of 2026 driven by higher silver sales volumes at Greens Creek.
• Income from Continuing Operations -- $150 million, or $0.22 per share, compared to $118 million, or $0.18 per share, in the prior quarter.
• Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations -- $211 million, representing 6% sequential growth and more than 40% growth compared to the third quarter of 2025.
• Record Operating Cash Flow -- $203 million, up 16% from the second quarter of 2026 due to favorable working capital changes and higher payable ounces sold.
• Record Free Cash Flow -- $151 million, nearly triple the amount generated in the third quarter of 2025, led by a site record of $147 million from Greens Creek.
• Liquidity Position -- $1.2 billion, consisting of $692 million in cash and an undrawn $500 million revolving credit facility.
• Consolidated Silver Production -- 4.2 million ounces, nearly unchanged from the second quarter of 2026, as record production at Keno Hill offset lower output at other sites.
• Greens Creek Silver Production -- 1.9 million ounces, a decrease from the prior quarter primarily due to scheduled hydro plant maintenance.
• Lucky Friday Silver Production -- 1.3 million ounces, reflecting the mine's exit from the high-grade ore pocket that drove record production in the second quarter of 2026.
• Record Keno Hill Production -- 903,000 ounces of silver, benefiting from a milled silver grade that improved 35% over the second quarter of 2026.
• Consolidated Silver Cash Cost -- negative $3.20 per ounce, while all-in sustaining cost reached $14.34 per ounce due to lower production and higher sustaining capital at Lucky Friday.
• Greens Creek Silver Costs -- negative $10.11 per ounce for cash costs and negative $3.25 per ounce for all-in sustaining cost, reflecting strong byproduct credits.
• Lucky Friday Silver Costs -- $7.31 per ounce for cash costs and $27.68 per ounce for all-in sustaining cost, driven by lower production volume and increased capital spending.
• Silver Production Guidance -- 15.3 million to 16.1 million ounces for 2026, with management raising the low end of the range from 15.1 million ounces.
• Silver AISC Guidance -- $11.50 to $12.50 per ounce, an improvement from the previous range of $12.50 to $13.50 per ounce based on performance during the first nine months.
• Capital Investment Guidance -- $198 million to $214 million, a reduction from the previous range of $208 million to $223 million.
• Exploration Budget -- $16.6 million invested during the third quarter, with the full-year 2026 guidance maintained at $55 million.
• In-Situ Tailings Value -- $6.4 billion gross metal value estimated in the 10.7 million tons of material at the Greens Creek dry-stack facility.
• Pyrite Circuit Potential -- 1 million to 1.2 million ounces of silver and 10,000 to 15,000 ounces of gold in potential annual production from the proposed Greens Creek circuit.
• Quarterly Dividend -- $0.00375 per common share, payable on Dec. 8, 2026, to stockholders of record as of Nov. 23, 2026.
• TRIFR Improvement -- 1.47, a decline from 1.51 in the prior quarter, representing a continued improvement in safety performance.

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RISKS

• Krcmarov warned that if license amendments are delayed or if metal prices fall materially, management "could consider care and maintenance" for Keno Hill, as the asset currently faces high fixed costs.
• Krcmarov stated, "you should expect lower revenue and higher cost per ton at Keno Hill this period," due to the decision to suppress throughput to stay within existing permit limits.
• Lawlar noted that approximately 50% of the company's cost structure is labor-related, indicating that competition for labor in regions like the Silver Valley is a factor management "will have to keep in mind" for future costs.
• Aguiar warned that Greens Creek power generation costs are expected to be higher in the fourth quarter of 2026, contributing to a $10 million increase in the site's costs applicable to sales guidance.

SUMMARY

Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) reported record quarterly operating cash flow and its strongest historical balance sheet, finishing the third quarter of 2026 with $692 million in cash and no long-term debt. Management attributed the quarterly performance to strong silver sales volumes at Greens Creek and record production at Keno Hill, despite a sequential pullback in metal prices. The company is prioritizing its organic project pipeline, which includes a proposed pyrite concentrate circuit at Greens Creek and a potential restart of the Midas operation in Nevada. Management reported that the company's focus has shifted toward permitting and infrastructure development to support a medium-term goal of 20 million ounces of annual silver production.

• The company is suppressing Keno Hill throughput to approximately 300 tons per day to stay within current permits for tailings storage, waste rock, and water treatment. Senior Vice President Carlos Aguiar stated, "the capacity under our current waste rock tailings, and water permits cannot support that rate over time."
• Management expects to operate Keno Hill at suppressed levels until approximately mid-2029. CEO Krcmarov noted that the company can "see the finish line roughly 3 years out" for receiving necessary license amendments and building required infrastructure.
• Hecla is evaluating three pathways for the Greens Creek dry-stack tailings, including a direct sale. Vice President Brian Erickson stated, "In the fourth quarter, we expect to load a test parcel from Greens Creek of approximately 5.5 thousand dry-metric tons of this low grade feedstock for shipment and sale to a third party smelter."
• Exploration drilling at Keno Hill identified a new mineralized extension at Flame and Moth, which Kurt Allen noted is "located 900 feet southwest of the existing resource" and spans 350 feet of dip length.
• The Midas restart project is being evaluated under a hub-and-spoke model. Erickson stated the model "would bring ore from Midas and potentially other regional sources such as Hollister" to the existing 1,200 ton-per-day mill.
• Byproduct credits from gold and zinc significantly impacted silver cash costs. CFO Russell Lawlar stated, "zinc, 1 of the things that sometimes people forget about is the large byproduct credit that Greens Creek does have in zinc."

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• AISC: All-in sustaining cost, a non-GAAP financial measure that includes all costs to sustain silver production, including reclamation and sustaining capital.
• Basal quartzite: A specific geological layer or rock type at Keno Hill that is a primary host for high-grade silver mineralization.
• Cash Cost: An operating metric representing the direct cash costs of producing metal, typically reported net of byproduct credits.
• Doré: A semi-pure alloy of gold and silver that is produced at a mine and then sent to a refinery for further purification.
• Dry-stack tailings: A method of tailings management where waste material is filtered to a low moisture content so it can be stacked as a solid rather than stored in a pond.
• Hub-and-spoke model: A mining strategy where ore from multiple satellite mines (spokes) is transported to a single central processing facility (hub).
• Pyrite concentrate circuit: A processing unit designed to recover precious metals from pyrite minerals that would otherwise be discarded as waste in tailings.
• TRIFR: Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate, a standard safety metric representing the number of recordable injuries per 200,000 hours worked.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us. And welcome to the Q3 26 Hecla Mining Company Earnings Conference Call. If you would like to ask a question, please press *1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, please press *1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Mike Parkin. Vice president of strategy and investor relations. Mike. Please go ahead.

Michael Parkin: Thank you, Hillary. Good morning, and thank you for all joining us for Hecla's third quarter 26 results conference call. I am Mike Parkin, Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations. Our earnings release that was issued yesterday along with today's presentation are available on our website. On the call with us today is Robert L. Krcmarov, president and chief executive officer Russell D. Lawlar, senior vice president and chief financial officer Carlos Aguiar, senior vice president and chief operating officer Brian Erickson, vice president of operations Kurt Allen, vice president exploration as well as other members of our management team. At the conclusion of our prepared remarks, we will be available to answer your questions.

Now turning over to Slide 2, cautionary statements. Any forward looking statements made today by the management team come under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and involve risks as shown on this slide. In our earnings release and in our 10-Q filing with the SEC. These and other risks could cause results to differ from those projected in the forward looking statements Non GAAP measures cited on this call and related slides are reconciled in these slides or in the back of the news release. Please note, as we discuss financial figures and projections throughout this presentation, and in the earnings release, we are referring to our continuing operations. I will now pass the call over to Robert.

Robert L. Krcmarov: Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. Turning to Slide 3. Hecla enters the third quarter of 26 from a position of real strength. I am speaking of financial strength, a position today that marks the strongest balance sheet in the company's very long history. And so the attribute shown on this slide that define us as North America premier silver producer, they have not changed. What has changed is the confidence with which we can now invest in what comes next. So I am eager to have our team discuss some really remarkable developments that are coming out of our substantial project pipeline. That further solidifies our market positioning.

And so a little bit more on that in a minute. Turning to Slide 4. This was another very strong quarter for Hecla. Even though a couple of the headline numbers moved in a different direction than last quarter. I want to spend a moment walking through why because I think the underlying story here is a really good 1. Revenue from continuing operations was $334 million compared to the record $411 million we reported in the first quarter. 2 things are driving that change. And it is worth being clear about both because neither of them is a production problem. First, metal prices pulled back from the highs we saw earlier in the year.

So I remain very confident in the outlook for silver and gold prices. Second, part of the gap was simply timing. A meaningful amount of silver concentrate, mostly at Greens Creek, produced but not yet sold as of quarter end. Had that concentrate shipped within the quarter, revenue would have been noticeably higher. Top of an already strong quarter, So that inventory shipped in early August and you will see it show up in our third quarter results. Those of you who followed us for some time know the lumpy sales pattern at Greens Creek. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $199 million more than double the $94 million we generated a year ago.

Operating cash flow, was-- I am sorry. Okay. Sorry to continue. I am just going to reemphasize. I got some numbers up from the previous quarter, and I apologize, everyone. Income from continuing operations $150 million or $0.22 per share, up from $118 million. Or $0.18 per share in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $211 million that is up 6% over the quarter and up more than 40% on a year ago. Operating cash flow from continuing operations was a record $203 million Free cash flow was a record too at $151 million which is nearly triple what we generated in the third quarter last year.

And Greens Creek led the way with a site record of $147 million. The balance sheet is the strongest it is ever been. We finished the quarter with almost $700 million in cash. And no long term debt apart from finance leases. We have also put in place a new $500 million revolving credit facility. it is undrawn other than a small amount of letters of credit, and it comes with a $100 million accordion option. So if you add it all up, we have about $1.2 billion of liquidity, and that gives us real options. The flexibility to keep investing in the projects and the assets that make the most sense.

On our own timeline rather than being dictated to by the silver price as in the past. On the operating side, we produced 4.2 million ounces of silver, within 1% of the second quarter, Greens Creek produced over 1.9 million ounces Lucky Friday produced nearly 1.3 million ounces. Which is what we planned after coming out of the high grade pocket that drove its second quarter. That record in the second quarter. Keno Hill contributed almost a million ounces and that shows what this asset can do and it is why we keep investing and derisking its future. So a word on Keno Hill. That record came from running the mill close to its permanent limit.

And our current permits cannot support that for long so we are choosing to suppress throughput to stay within permit limits. And Carlos will give you the numbers and the timing on that in a minute. Silver production should fall by less than throughput and that is because we will be more selective in both the mine and the mill. I wanna be clear. Keno Hill carries a high fixed cost base So through the permitting period at current prices, you should expect lower revenue and higher cost per tonne. That said, I still see real value in that ground and that is why we had 4 drills turning there. We also made some positive changes to our 2026 guidance.

We raised the bottom end of our consolidated silver production range We improved our silver cash cost and all-in sustaining cost guidance. And we lowered our capital investment guidance. Turning to Slide 5. This slide shows where we want to take the company. Our medium term goal is to be a silver producer of more than 20 million ounces a year. A potential restart at Midas is part of that and so is Keno Hill getting to its permanent mill rate. Once the permitting and infrastructure work is done. All of it depends on exploration success, development, and permitting. Closer in, we have 2 organic opportunities at Greens Creek.

1 is the pyrite concentrate circuit we told you about last quarter, and the other is the dry stack tailings. Now has more than 1 potential path forward. What the 3 projects on the next slide have in common is low capital intensity. Our bar for any of these investments is a return that clears our investment thresholds by a healthy margin and early indications on the pyrite circuit are encouraging on that front. I am constructive on silver and gold. Even so, I would rather build cash now so we can keep these projects moving whatever the price does. And that is why the balance sheet has been such a priority for us.

Turn it over to Brian to walk through the latest progress on it. Brian, over to you.

Brian Erickson: Thanks, Robert. Turning to slide 6. So work continues to advance on all 3 organic projects Robert discussed and is shown on this slide. Let's share 1 important attribute. it is expected to be low in capital spend. These projects build on infrastructure we already have. They follow permitting paths that are already established and well understood, and we already have the operating expertise in house. That allows us to produce potentially high margin production and cash flow growth while reducing many of the exploration and development risks inherent in greenfield projects. Starting with the Greens Creek pyrite concentrate circuit.

We are advancing engineering on a new circuit at the mill that will recover additional silver and gold that currently reports to the dry stack tailings facility. Producing a marketable pyrite concentrate that is shown to be in high demand. Work is at a scoping level incorporating some advanced design and preliminary costs around. Estimates are underway. At average reserve grades, we continue to estimate that the circuit could add potentially 1 to 1.2 million ounces of silver and 10 thousand to 15 thousand ounces of gold in annual production once fully ramped up. On top of Greens Creek's existing output.

Early indications continue to point to a robust return on capital that meets our investment thresholds while also reducing the rate at which we add tailings to the storage facility, which would be expected to lower future tailings storage capacity related investment. With a favorable benefit to cost ratio, and what we believe is low technical risk, this project is well suited to an accelerated engineering and execution path. Subject to permits and final investment approval. Under that path, excuse me, we expect to begin intermittent pyrite production of concentrate as early as late 27 using temporary equipment. With potential to reach full capacity with the completion of the new circuit. Expected at late 28.

These estimates remain preliminary and are subject to changes in engineering advances. But we are very excited about this project. Second is the Greens Creek tailings reprocessing project. We need to-- Looking at the middle image on the slide. let me spend a little extra time because the scope of what we are evaluating is broadened. As of September 30th, the dry stack tailings facility held an estimated 10.7 million tons of material containing roughly 51 million ounces of silver nearly 600 thousand ounces of gold, additional critical minerals.

At quarter end metals prices, that represents an in situ gross metal value of approximately $6.4 billion. that is a gross figure before transportation processing and sales costs, which we expect to be significant, and it is not a mineral resource or reserve. So think of it as a measured scale. We are evaluating the potential of 3 pathways forward with this. First pathway is the 1 we have been working on for a few years, a multiphase metallurgical program with a third party. Phase 3 testing was completed in August, and the metallurgical results are pending in expected any week now. that is a key milestone that should help shape our next steps.

Including the potential to advance to a pilot plant test in phase 4. This pathway depends on our potential partners securing a suitable processing facility, which they are working on. Early indications point to a potentially low capital intensity path for Hecla to achieve initial cash flows with first cash flows potentially in about 3 years based on our current understanding today. But that timing is subject to a number of factors largely outside of our control and could change. What is new this quarter is that we are now evaluating 2 additional pathways. 1 of the new potential pathways is a direct sale of the dry stack material.

Following interest from third party smelters and concentrate dealers, we are evaluating whether this material could qualify as low grade feedstock. That we could sell directly. And this is moving from concept to action. In the fourth quarter, we expect to load a test parcel from Greens Creek of approximately 5.5 thousand dry-metric tons of this low grade feedstock for shipment and sale to a third party smelter. This remains early stage, and there is no assurance that we would be commercial shipments next year and beyond. But it is an important first step, and we will look to update the market as we learn more. The third pathway is self processing.

Would potentially involve an on-site processing facility, which could require new or amended permits. We expect to begin metallurgical evaluation of the self processing concept in the first quarter of 27 with initial results potentially available by spring of 27 to help determine next steps. These pathways for the Greens Creek tailings are not mutually exclusive. Our path forward could include more than 1 of them when we are evaluating combinations of 2 or more. That flexibility is real strength because it gives us multiple ways to capture value. And generate cash flows from material we already have on-site.

As with pyrite concentrate, reprocessing all or part of the tailings could reduce the space needed for tailings storage and help lower Greens Creek's long term reclamation life. Expect to provide further details in coming quarters as the evaluation work advances. Finally, the Midas restart project in Nevada also continues to advance, and it shares that same low capital intensity attribute. Midas has permitted infrastructure, including a mill, with approximately 1.2 thousand-ton-per-day of milling capacity, tailings facility with roughly 15 years of storage capacity, and other surface infrastructure. All of which could help reduce the time and capital required for a restart.

We are working to expand the existing high grade gold and silver resource to the scale needed to support a restart. We continue to evaluate a hub-and-spoke model that would bring ore from Midas and potentially other regional sources such as Hollister, which is well within trucking distance through the existing mill. Drilling resumed at Hollister this quarter after a multiyear pause, and Kurt will touch on the latest Nevada exploration results in a few minutes. In summary, 3 capital projects at 3 different stages with 1 common thread. Capital intensity and the potential for high margins. We will keep you updated as the work advances. I will now turn the call over to Carlos for the operations review.

Carlos Aguiar: Thank you, Brian. Turning to Slide 8. Greens Creek produced 1.9 million ounces of silver and nearly 12 thousand ounces of gold in the third quarter. Lower than the second quarter primarily due to hydro plant maintenance during the quarter. Costs applicable to sales were $76 million reflecting the higher sales volume from the timing of shipments noted by Rob earlier. The cash cost of negative $10.11 per ounce and an AISC of negative $3.25 per ounce. Both after byproduct credits.

Cash flow from operations was $155 million and free cash flow was at new site level quarterly record of $147 million Robert mentioned it, the concentrate inventory we carried at the end of the second quarter shipped in early August and is reflected in these results. Looking ahead, we have additional scheduled maintenance planned in the fourth quarter. We remain confident in achieving production guidance at our flagship operation. Which we are maintaining at 8 to 8.3 million ounces of silver and 51 thousand to 55 thousand ounces of gold.

We are raising our cost applicable to sales guidance by $10 million to $250 million reflecting that results over the first 9 months and higher expected on-site power generation costs in the fourth quarter. This increase is in total dollars. On a per ounce basis guidance has improved driven by our strong first 9 months and higher byproduct credits. We now expect cash cost of negative $13 to negative $12.50 per ounce and an AISC of negative $5.50 to negative $5.00 per ounce. Both after byproduct credits. Turning to Slide 9.

Lucky Friday produced nearly 1.3 million ounces of silver as planned, but the mine moved out of the high grade ore pocket that drove record second quarter production of 1.5 million ounces. Costs applicable to sales were $34 million. Cash costs were $7.31 per ounce, and AISC was $27.68 per ounce. Both after byproduct credits. Both were up from the second quarter reflecting lower production volume and higher sustaining capital spending. Cash flow from operation was $88 million and free cash flow $67 million. Surface cooling project is expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 26. We expect it to begin improving underground working conditions shortly after commissioning, supporting the mine's 15-year reserve mine life.

For the full year, we had tightened up our silver production guidance by raising the low end of the range to 5 to 5.2 million ounces. It costs applicable to sales, with no change at $140 million. We have also improved our cost guidance We now expect cash cost of $8.50 to $9.00 down from $9.00 to $9.75. And we have lowered the high end of our AISC range to $25.50 per ounce from $26. For a new range of $24.50 to $25.50 per ounce, both after byproduct credits. Turning to Slide 10. At Keno Hill, we produced a record 903 thousand ounces of silver in the third quarter.

The result benefited from a milled silver grade that improved more than 35% as we worked through the lower grade zone we discussed earlier this year. From a new quarterly record milling rate. Cash flow from operations was $5 million and free cash flow was negative at $2 million reflecting continued capital investment and working capital outflows. However, you should not expect that milling rate to repeat. In September, the mill run close to its permitting rate but the capacity under our current waste rock tailings, and water permits cannot support that rate over time. Beginning in the fourth quarter, we are choosing to suppress throughput to preserve that capacity and stay within permitting limits.

We expect throughput to step down to approximately 300-tons-per-day in the fourth quarter. With further suppression beginning in January 2027, To level significantly below third quarter 26. As Rob noted, we expect silver production to decline proportionally less than throughput as we mine and process more selectively. In practical terms, at current prices, you should expect lower revenue and higher cost per ton at Keno Hill this period. Given the high fixed cost nature of the asset. We have been speaking to this strategy for a few quarters now, and we believe it is the best path forward. While we wait on permits, the team is focused on what we can control.

We are putting in place and put in place tighter grade control to reduce dilution, and that work is underway. We are also planning to be more selective about what goes to the mill and we are preferring to stockpile lower grade materials so we can process it later. Once we have the permitted capacity. As these steps come together, we expect higher grade and better margin on every time we process. While keeping the lower grade tons available for later. The permitting and infrastructure work we are doing now is what should allow the mind to reach its potential. I will have to turn the call over to Russell for the finance app.

Russell D. Lawlar: Thank you, Carlos. Turning to Slide 12, let me take you through our financial results. As Mike noted, everything I will cover here reflects results from our continuing operations. Hecla provides an investment opportunity like no other. Not only are our mines in the best jurisdictions, and we have very low cost and long mine lives. Also offer exposure to silver that is best in class with 69% of our third quarter revenues coming from silver. With gold making up 15% and the remaining coming from base metals. Revenues during the quarter inclusive of environmental services were $395 million with $372 million coming from our mining operation. Which is up 17% from last quarter.

The increase is primarily due to timing of shipments at Greens Creek as we have already discussed. With these revenues, we remain the purest silver mid cap multi asset producer And as we have already discussed, our project pipeline is pointing to growing our exposure to silver for our shareholders. As we move to Slide 13, I will go into further details on the financial performance during the quarter. Income from continuing operations was $150 million or $0.22 per share compared with $118 million or $0.08 per share. Last quarter. In addition to the higher revenue, income benefited from a $30 million increase in fair value adjustments primarily related to realized and unrealized gains on marketable securities.

That was partly offset by $41 million of higher cost applicable to sales on the highest volume sold. $22 million of higher tax expense on better profitability, and a $6 million increase in exploration and predevelopment expenses as programs ramped up, including new programs at Hollister and Aurora. Our margins remain strong. We realized $63.62 per ounce of silver sold and with an AISC of $14.34 per ounce. That drove a margin of $49.28 per ounce or 77% of the realized price of silver. AISC was higher than the second quarter mainly because of lower production at Greens Creek and Lucky Friday, lower byproduct credits primarily related to less gold production, and higher sustaining capital mostly at Lucky Friday.

These non GAAP figures of AISC and cash costs exclude Keno Hill, which remain in a state of precommercial production. As we presented last quarter, we have a substantially less exposure to oil than many of our peers in the industry. The starting point is the nature of our ore body at our operations, which are high grade and high value underground mines where we mine less tons to extract the value. And as a result, we consume less diesel. The second factor is all of our operations source their power from local utilities where diesel prices do not impact the price.

From time to time, Greens Creek will generate power, However, this is not normally for prolonged periods of time and we. And does not move the cost structure materially when we do. Cash provided by operating activities was $203 million, up 16% from the prior quarter, helped by favorable working capital changes and higher payable ounces sold. Consolidated free cash flow was a record $151 million, surpassing the previous record of $144 million set in the first quarter. At the site level before exploration and corporate costs, Greens Creek generated $147 million and Lucky Friday generated $67 million, while Keno Hill was slightly negative due to working capital movements weighing on its cash flow.

This is primarily related to the collection of payment from 2 shipments of concentrate that slipped to October. Turning to the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $692 million in cash, up from $483 million at the end of the second quarter, That increase reflects our strong cash flow generation as well as $64 million of proceeds from the sale of investments. We have a. We have no long term debt outside of finance leases, and we entered into a new $500 million revolving credit facility, undrawn other than $3.4 million of letters of credit plus a $100 million accordion option together with our cash. That brings our total liquidity to $1.2 billion.

We have moved from a net debt position of approximately $144 million a year ago to a net cash position of approximately $680 million today, which gives us the strongest balance sheet we have had in Hecla's history. I will now turn the call to Kurt to go through exploration. Thank you, Russell.

Kurt Allen: We invested $16.6 million in exploration and corporate development this quarter. 2026 guidance remains at $55 million With the success we have had this year, we are looking to grow our budget next year. Turning to Slide 15. I will start at Keno Hill where drilling ramped up through the quarter. We now have 4 drills turning, and we expect all 4 to run through the end of the year. that is already paying off at the Flame and Moth. We are drilling in the favorable basal quartzite along strike with the lightning vein, has identified a new mineralized extension with over 350 feet of dip length located 900 feet southwest of the existing resource.

3 of 4 holes encountered significant mineralization, Hole K 26.9 thousand returned 26.1 ounces per ton silver and 14% zinc over 8.5 feet. Hole K 27 thousand returned 6.5 ounces per ton silver and 3.5% zinc over 16.1 feet. This new extension is open to the northeast, toward the existing resource and to the Southwest along Strike. And we will continue follow-up drilling in the fourth quarter. Turning to Slide 16. At Bermingham Deep, we continue to extend the high grade trend that points toward the historic Hector Calumet mine, which produced roughly 96 million ounces of silver historically.

Southwest step out of Hole K26.9 thousand returned 25.7 ounces per ton silver and 4.2% lead over 10 feet on the footwall vein, and Hole K26.9 thousand stepped out a further 165 feet into strongly mineralized rock with assays pending. Together with Hole K26.9 thousand to the Northeast, the known strike length of this trend is now 1.3 thousand feet, a 500-foot increase over the second quarter. On the Bermingham Main Vein 2, hole K26.9 thousand also intersected 61.1 ounce per ton silver and 3.8% lead over 5.3 feet. Extending that vein about 260 feet to the Southwest. Turning to Slide 17. And moving to Greens Creek.

At the Wester offset target, about 500 feet from the Northwest-West resource 3 of 5 holes intersected significant sulfide mineralization. Holes PS511, PS512, and PS513 encountered 6, 11, and 8.3 feet respectively. Defining sulfide mineralization over 300 feet of strike with assays pending. These results support the concept that this area could post a meaningful extension to the existing mineralized zone at Greens Creek. At Zing Creek, all 4 holes this year intersected the target horizon with strong alteration and abundant pyrite, including 9 feet of semi-massive pyrite in Hole PS509. In the underground, 3 rigs continue to define and step out from existing resource with good results.

Including 63.6 ounce per ton silver over 14.1 feet the 200 south zone. Turning to Slide 18, In Nevada, at Midas, hold DMC-494 return point 3 ounce per ton gold and 2.9 ounce per ton silver over 1.4 feet. Confirming a second narrow high grade vein following our second quarter discovery in hole DMC-481. Step out holes on both veins all intersected the structure with assay pending on all but 1. These results confirm the prospectivity of the southwest pediment area. An important part of our evaluation of a potential restart of Midas. Drilling also began at Aurora, where Brawley Peak showed intense alteration and at Polaris, where it showed banded quartz veins with evidence of boiling.

Suggesting we need to drill tests deeper on these targets. At Hollister, drilling began at the South and Excalibur targets with assays pending. Drilling at both Aurora and Hollister will continue in the fourth quarter. I will now turn the call back to Robert for closing remarks.

Robert L. Krcmarov: Thank you, Kurt. Turning to Slide 19. And to sum up, safety improved again we are continuing to work to improve it further. Our total reportable injury frequency rate or TRIFR improved again from 1.51 to 1.47 in the quarter, and that is the right direction. I think we can still better because as I have always said, a safe mine is a productive mine. Q3 was a quarter of record cash flow and continued strong financial results. It builds on a record that has helped us pay down debt and move into a position of real financial strength. The kind that lets us keep investing in our robust organic project pipeline for years to come.

And serve as value for our shareholders. We have almost $700 million in cash, no long term debt and about $1 billion in liquidity. Without question, that is the strongest balance sheet in this company's history. And our pipeline continues to advance the pyrite concentrate circuit progressing at Greens Creek, new potential paths forward for the dry stack tailings and Midas potentially heading towards a restart And all of these have low capital intensity as the common thread. At Keno Hill, we are working through the permits and the infrastructure that will support the mine reaching its potential.

We do believe in a robust precious metals market, and we think silver has a very bright future and we are working to grow the exposure to the metal for our shareholders. You know, I really hope you can feel the enthusiasm we have inside our company for the project pipeline. We think Hecla is the most compelling way to get exposure to silver in this sector. And perhaps the last word on guidance. We have tightened our production range improved our silver cash costs and all in sustaining costs, and we have lowered our capital investment all while generating record free cash flow.

With another solid quarter behind us, we are well positioned to achieve our 2026 guidance and we look forward to keeping you updated. I will now ask the operator to open the line for questions.

Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press *1. To raise your hand. To withdraw your question, please press *1 again. We ask that you pick your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Harrison Reynolds. From RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Harrison Reynolds: Hi. Good morning, everyone, and congratulations on a good quarter for Hecla. Looking at the balance sheet now, $700 million in cash and credit facility up to $600 million what are the latest thoughts on the best use of capital from here, including your assessment of the current valuation shares you are trading at? Between organic investment, returning capital to shareholders and potentially M&A from here? And on M&A, what would your criteria look like between jurisdiction, commodity focus, stage, size? Thank you.

Robert L. Krcmarov: Russell, why do not you start with the balance sheet?

Russell D. Lawlar: Yes. Sounds good. Yes. Good morning, Harrison. As it relates to the balance sheet, frankly, and as we have communicated in the past, we are working towards building a cash balance that is capable of providing for our future liquidity needs. Brian talked quite a lot on those growth projects that will require capital. They are not huge capital intensity, but we also wanna make sure we can fund those Kurt had spoken about the expiration that he is working on. Right? So we expect things to come from that. So we wanna make sure we are able to fund that.

Additionally, we want to make sure we have sufficient liquidity just on our balance sheet as it relates to being able to weather low prices and other things like that. But as we do build that balance sheet, as we see focus come in as it relates to these growth projects that Brian spoke about, exploration programs, that kind of thing. We will continue to evaluate capital returns and we find that it is the right time, then we would actually act on that. And I will ask Robert maybe to take the M&A portion of that.

Robert L. Krcmarov: Okay. Thanks. And thanks for your question, Harrison. On M&A, 1 of the things I will point you to is we have exceptionally long mine lives. They are all not quite but almost double the peer average, and so we have visibility over the horizon. I think the other thing to note is that we are kind of unique in our space in that we have more silver exposure than the majority of our peers. And so we want to preserve that. You asked about the criteria. So we want to stay a silver company We also want to stay in relatively safe jurisdictions. We are currently in Canada and The US.

I mean, you have to go where the scarce quality assets are. And so does that mean that we are going to be here forever? No, probably not. Probably look at other jurisdictions, but we do a proper detailed analysis on what a relatively safe jurisdiction looks like. So as a rule of thumb, I have said anything in the top third of the Fraser Institute index would take a look at that country. But we would not just use it as a tick box We would do a thorough risk assessment and understand whether we are comfortable with those risks we can mitigate some of them or whether it is simply not for us.

Our M&A appetite right now, as I said, it is. You know, we already have a future that we have plotted out to plus-20-million ounces. And investing in our organic projects that we already own, we already control, we understand them deeply. that is our preferred path forward. But if something comes along, we have time. You know, we can be thoughtful and diligent and thorough. We have time something compelling comes along that meets our investment criteria, we will act But again, I just point you to our preferences for organic growth. Obviously, M&A is a tool that is available to us. Would you just be very disciplined about how we do that. that is great detail.

Harrison Reynolds: Thank you. Separately, wanted to ask on Keno Hill. Could you frame up the outlook for processed grades a bit more there? it is obviously a very high grade deposit. I am wondering under the lower throughput and greater selectivity plan, what are the goalposts for process grades into Q4 and over the next couple of years until the permit amendments come in?

Robert L. Krcmarov: Well, I will start. there is a few things that pulled down the grade in the first half. We had less output from the bare zone, which is obviously a high grade zone. We also had dilution because we were mining some remnant areas that comes at a higher cost and lower grade. And we moved into the Arctic zone. And then we also plus there was also sequencing in Birmingham from 19 ounces per ton in Q2 to about 26 in Q3. I expect that the grade will be maintained at roughly reserve grade Any comment on that, Brian or Carlos?

But we expect the silver production to decline proportionately less because we expect to be more selective not only on mining, but our also in processing. We will be focused on reducing dilution prioritizing hybrid grade values in mining and processing while stockpiling lower-grade material for later processing. So actual production will depend on run-of-mine grade and mill. And we provided specific silver ounce production guidance in February. Got it.

Harrison Reynolds: Thank you for the detail on both of those, and thanks for taking my questions.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Wayne Lam from TD Securities. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Wayne Lam: Yeah. Thanks. Morning, guys, and congrats on a good quarter. If I think back to early last year, you guys had already flagged some of the permitting constraints at Keno Hill and the potential to scale back or put a pause in operations. So I guess 2 questions. Number 1, with the with the silver price kind of back to $50,, is there potential to reevaluate a potential move to care and maintenance given Keno was slightly negative free cash flow this quarter? at a $63 silver price? And then number 2, you know, the Yukon seems to be, you know, quite a hotbed for development lately, and it seems like the province is keen to accelerate projects forward.

So just wondering is there something more project-specific at Keno that is holding up the permits?

Robert L. Krcmarov: I will answer the care and maintenance question first. Our plan is to basically keep running within the current permits while we build that infrastructure. But, you know, as we point out on our 10-Q, you know, it says that delays at any step restrictions on temporary waste stockpiling or reduced power from Nucon Energy that can force further curtailment or a halt. And so if permits or infrastructure delayed or silver falls materially, we could consider care and maintenance, but our preference is to keep the workforce intact.

We can see the finish line roughly 3 years out, we have got a workforce that has increasingly understood the ore body and is becoming better and more efficient at mining it. And so, while it is not a huge burden on us, I think the optimum path forward is to keep it running for as long as we can and get through to the get through to, you know, mid to late 2029 when we can see things really. Some of the constraints being removed and seeing the full potential coming out of Keno Hill. On the Yukon, I mean, we are the only significant operating mine run by a public company mine in the Yukon.

We already have strong support from the government We have got a much better relationship with the First Nation Na-Cho Nyak Dun. And so I think all stakeholders would like to see us be successful We have had our stakeholders come out to site and visit us. And we are pretty proud of what we have accomplished there, particularly both in terms of the mining that we are doing the responsible mining but also the rehabilitation activities that we have done through ERDC, which is our rehabilitation unit, which is actually funded by the government Now the rehabilitation and the reclamation that they have been doing, it is highly visible to the community.

Anyone who drives by the highway can see it improving, you know, week by week and month by month. Patrick, you have been up in the Yukon recently. Any comments there?

Patrick Malone: I think you summarized it well. The relationships are solid. Permitting is moving forward. It is a deliberate process. We are planning on filing our project proposal by the end of the year, which is the first step in the YESAB review. The federal review. And there is nothing specific that is delaying any of that. that is currently in process. We are just working our way through that process.

Wayne Lam: Okay. Great. And then maybe just on the tailings reprocessing project, it seems like the results from environmental has gone decently well with the Greens Creek material. So just wondering why you guys are now evaluating multiple avenues outside of that. And in particular, if you were to go down the route of building your own facility, is that not something that could maybe be seen as outside the scope of expertise for Hecla and add quite a bit on timeline to realization?

Robert L. Krcmarov: Brian, why do not you take it?

Brian Erickson: Yeah. So, you know, we mentioned the third party we have been with, and we have got a long relationship with them. And certainly, their technology seems to be working out well in the studies that we have done. The other 2 paths really do just give us optionality. You know, you think about that site. If you could ship raw tails off as a low grade concentrate, it definitely helps the environmental aspects of closure for that site and some of the long term expansion costs on the tailings facility. As far as reprocessing, you know, that is essentially what we are building at the mill.

We are building a pyrite concentrate, which is a circuit, which is what we would do with the tails facility. So, you know, we are making a pyrite concentrate as well within our wheelhouse because we are already going to be doing. So those studies will get started again. We should have, some metallurgical, results. You know, we are a little bit worried about the oxidation of that material. But we need to determine what the metallurgical results are and how well it will float. But I do not think there is really any significant technical concerns there.

The other thing, you know, it gives us optionality to look at all 3, because potentially there is a combination of 3 options for addressing the tailings facility to monetize that. So I think all of them are still viable paths. You know, I think over the next 6 to 8 months, we will start to really narrow in on what we are gonna do. And I guess from a capital standpoint, you know, the cost of the building a pyrite circuit at the mill will give us indications for cost. For building reprocessing facility should we do that. So we will have a lot of information coming in the next several months that will guide our.

Sort of guide our path forward.

Robert L. Krcmarov: Yeah. So just to circle back to your initial concern, Wayne, about you know, stepping out of our wheelhouse. We are not stepping out of our wheelhouse. So the pyrite concentrate circuit, that is you know, that is proven technology, very low technical risk. that is what we are doing on material that we are producing presently. And essentially, all we are doing is mirroring that and looking at putting in a pyrite concentrate circuit for the existing tails. As Brian said, we need to do some drilling and met characterization, see how much oxidation has happened, but we are not we are not really straying into new areas that we are not familiar with at all.

Wayne Lam: Okay. Great. Thanks. And then maybe just last 1. Following up on the capital returns, Robert, when you joined, obviously, the company was in a much different position on balance sheet. And the Silverlink dividend was eliminated. So just wondering if there is potential for you guys to institute some type of attribute-linked returns program at some point. I mean, to Russell's comment, I think we understand on future capital needs, but you know, with the balance sheet growing as is, maybe you will even be in a position soon to build Libby on a stand alone basis at some point. A joke, by the way.

Robert L. Krcmarov: Yeah. You had me for a pause, but thank you. On the on the capital returns, obviously, at the rate that we have been building cash on the balance sheet, there will come a point probably sometime in the first half of next year that we have to seriously look at returns. What that looks like, whether it is if there is a dislocation in how we value our assets compared to where the market values the assets, we would look at share buybacks. And I do not know about doing a silver link dividend. that is never really worked for anyone, not in the gold space, not in our space.

Probably unlikely, but, you know, dividends, we will consider that. I expect we are going to have a much more robust discussion at the board in the first half of next year. Great.

Wayne Lam: Thanks for taking my questions, and congrats on a great quarter. Thanks, Wayne.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Tosin Giola from Jefferies. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Tosin Giola: Guys, congrats on the quarter. My name is Tosin Giwa, and I am asking for Chris Lahiji at Jefferies. I will start with Greens Creek. At Greens Creek, throughput and silver grades are both lower year-over-year. And Q3 AISC was approximately, I think, $5 per ounce above the year to date average. I just wanted to ask, you know, how much of the variance was temporary to maintenance and mine sequencing or was it indicative of the cost and grade profile entering into 2027?

Robert L. Krcmarov: I am sorry. Found it very, very hard to hear. Did anyone did anyone hear that? Be able to answer that. it is awesome. Could you just. You are a bit quiet. Can you repeat your question?

Tosin Giola: Yeah. So I was saying at Greens Creek, throughput and silver grades were both lower year-on-year, and Q3 AISC was approximately $5 per ounce above the year to date average. How much of the variance was temporary related maintenance and mine sequencing or was it indicative of the cost and grade profile entering into 2027?

Robert L. Krcmarov: Think, Tosin, your question, if I heard the.

Russell D. Lawlar: At least the first half of that was Greens Creek grades this year are lower than they were last year.

Robert L. Krcmarov: And so, you know, Brian Erickson is sitting here with us. He was our GM there for a long time. I think that, you know, my perspective on Greens Creek is that Greens Creek is the complexity of Greens Creek is what creates a lot of the value of Greens Creek.

Analyst: And the grades at Greens Creek will fluctuate. Sometimes they will be higher. Sometimes they will be lower.

Brian Erickson: I do not know if you have any comment on that, Brian.

Russell D. Lawlar: And then secondly, my. You mentioned throughput as well, Tosin. And I, you know, I see you know, throughput in 2025 was higher than 2026. And I think, you know, maybe, Brian, you could speak a bit to that as it relates some of the projects we did earlier in the year.

Brian Erickson: Yeah. I think Russell is correct. In silver, You know, it fluctuates up through the grades. Pretty significantly, and we obviously at times see surprises that are, you know, very good. Sometimes we go through lower grade zones, so it is nothing unexpected. As to the throughput, yeah, it is a bit lower. That site, I think we have communicated, has gone through some mill work in the last couple of years, which will continue into next year. that is definitely affecting production. But, you know, nothing I am concerned about longer term.

Carlos Aguiar: And the sustaining infrastructure repairs that we are doing in the near facility is to be prepared for the next years of the life of Greens Creek. So Right.

Tosin Giola: Thanks. And maybe just 1 additional question on Keno Hill. You know, realistically speaking, I mean, can Keno Hill achieve commercial production at a reduced operating rate? And what does the slowdown mean for the company's medium term target of 20 million ounces of silver production?

Robert L. Krcmarov: So, Tosin, again, I am gonna restate at least the little bit that I heard, and I apologize again because I am having a hard time hearing you. But I think you started with commercial production at Keno Hill. And the criteria for commercial production at Keno Hill is well defined in our 10 q. What I would say is that with the suppression of production that we have talked about, we would not expect to see that commercial production happen until later this decade or early next. What I would say on that, though, as well is that does not actually impact the. any of the accounting, you know, of the costs.

So all that is just a mining term that we use under US GAAP.

Tosin Giola: Right. And, I mean, what does that slowdown mean for the company's medium term target of 20 million ounces? What does that have to do with the impact on getting to an ounce target? Is that what you are suggesting? To the 20 million.

Robert L. Krcmarov: We flagged that the 20 million is, you know, we expect to achieve that in the medium term. And so, again, this slowdown is the suppressed production while we organize the investments in infrastructure and get the critical permits that we need probably around about mid-2029, then we should be relatively unconstrained and be able to ramp production back up to 440 tonnes per day. Longer term beyond that, the mill is actually rated at beyond 600 tonnes per day, but that would require another phase of investment and another phase of permitting. So that is longer term. So, you know, the incremental reduction in production at Keno Hill, we expect that to last roughly 3 years.

And then you will see it You will see that increase beyond what we have basically been producing throughout its history, actually. So no real impact to our 20 million ounce a year target, again flagging that is in the medium term.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Cosmos Chiu. From CIBC. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Cosmos Chiu: Hi. Hi. Thanks, Robert and team. My first question is going back to Keno Hill. You know, yesterday, you talked in detail about the tailings capacity constraints. Is that something new? it is certainly something newer to me. I know you kind of touched on it in your Q2 MD&A. But previous to that, it was more, you know, talking about the permitted capacity of 440 tons per day, quartz mining license, water license. Are these all sort of interrelated? And if, you know, the tailings capacity constraint is not new to you, is the mid 29 sort of timeline new? Is that why, you know, you have had to kind of curtail your throughput starting in Q4?

Robert L. Krcmarov: No. it is not new. And yes, they are all interrelated. So again, just to recap, I think 1 of the new things is we have quantified that we have got 200 thousand tonnes of tailings left that is what we have to play with. We need to obviously get the permits to increase tailings capacity. As we are mining we are also generating waste so there is a limit on that. Then as we are doing more development and more mining we are generating more water and so we need to treat that water to the same standards that we agreed to. So a lot of it is permitting related Nothing really new here.

Patrick, can you add some more color?

Patrick Malone: Yeah. So as Robert said, there. there is sort of 3 constraints that are currently in place. it is tailings capacity, waste rock capacity, and ability to handle water that we encountered through our water treatment plants. Those are not new constraints. What we. I think we have provided is a little more clarity on how we are planning to manage those constraints. Until we receive our permits, which we expect by mid-2029.

Cosmos Chiu: Great. And then Patrick or maybe Robert, as you mentioned, there is 3 different constraints, tailings capacity. waste rock, and water treatment. Which is the biggest constraint?

Patrick Malone: Are they all sort of about the same? I would say that the tailings is a fixed constraint in that we know how much we have permitted capacity ahead of us. The other 2 are a bit more variable. They depend on things which are to some degree, a bit outside of our control. We are not sure, you know, when we will encounter water. We have models. We think that we know what is ahead of us, but there is a bit of uncertainty around that. But tailings is a hard constraint, and that is what we are using to base our plan on. Currently.

Cosmos Chiu: Mhmm. Great. And then also at Keno Hill, and, Robert, it was great to hear that you have 4 drills on-site, and there is exploration success at Keno Hill. But I guess my question is, could you maybe talk me through the rationale in terms of drilling in the near term at Keno Hill? You know, it is great, Flame and Moth. 900 feet southwest of the existing resources. But you have this kind of near-term or intermediate term constraint on milling capacity. So do you need to find more ounces, or, you know, what is the return on this? Or are you trying to find higher grade ounces?

So that you can actually feed it into the mill at a lower capacity?

Robert L. Krcmarov: High grade ounces is always the target. And that is where Kurt and his team have been having a lot of success. You have a look at that Bermingham Deeps. As we head down plunge, the grades get even higher. We are also targeting. And again, most of that exploration in the district is near mine. We are working in and around the existing ore bodies. We are not really going out to any of the 17 targets that could have more than 50 million potential. We are really sticking close to where we have existing development so we can basically monetize any wins there.

Again, in the medium term, excited by that area, along strike, you know, continuing to step out from Birmingham. To the to the north, I guess it is, where you have the convergence of the historic Hector-Calumet. there is just a handful of holes there, and that is really where everything's pointing to us that there could be major larger resources available. Kurt, sorry. I should have deferred to you.

Kurt Allen: No. I think he covered it well. I think you know, 1 of the goals at the deep Bermingham towards the Hector Calumet is that we think that the fluid source for both those deposits are probably the same. And so there could be a big prize between those 2 deposits. All of our drilling has been focused near mine near the Birmingham, near Flame And Moth. Trying to increase resources and reserves at the operating mines.

Robert L. Krcmarov: You picked up on an important point, Cosmos, and that is the high grade point. it is not just finding high grade. it is actually mining high grade by reducing dilution and so that is going to be a focus with us. You know, we are looking at various options that we were just talking about. Brian, can you talk about the mechanical cutting and stuff?

Brian Erickson: Yeah. We are talking. You know, we are obviously giving guidance. We are gonna reduce tonnage there, but it is we are not resting on that. We have been working for a number of years to reduce the mining width and reduce that dilution. We have got some testing underway at the up at the mill to determine, you know, potential opportunities to reduce dilution in the run-of-mine ore feed. So there is there is a lot of work going on this We will, you know, we will update you as we get some highlights from some of this stuff, this work we are doing.

Cosmos Chiu: Yeah. I guess, Robert, to ask you more directly, do you need to find more ounces even if it is near mine when you have this constrained near term? To 300-tons-per-day.

Robert L. Krcmarov: No. I do not think we need to find more ounces. We have already got a reserve life that is I think, it is, like, about 15 years or something like that. And you know, we are yet to develop the Bermingham Deeps, which is higher grade. We do not need more ounces. What we need to do is get the throughput. it is got high fixed costs, as you know, so that denominator is a little bit low. And so once we it and we can develop faster, we can mine faster, we generate more water, we can treat that water, we can place the tailings and the waste.

You will see it start to approach its full potential under the 44 limit, you know, from around about 2029 onwards.

Cosmos Chiu: Great. And then, Robert, maybe 1 last question. it is great to see that in the in the industry where everyone else is talking about inflation and input costs being higher, and we have seen a number of companies increase their all in sustaining cost guidance for 2026. You have actually gone the other direction. You have decreased it, which is great. Can you talk about how much of that is attributable to byproduct credits? And, you know, could you maybe talk about labor input costs? Are you seeing any pressure, especially, say, in the Silver Valley?

Because I have heard, you know, Silver Valley competition has been pretty high in terms of labor, in terms of, you know, cost and whatnot. Could you maybe touch on all that? Robert, or maybe Russell?

Russell D. Lawlar: Russell? that is a good. Yeah. Cosmos, I certainly can take that. And I agree with you that, you know, it is it is great that we are able to, you know, improve our all in sustaining cost, and that took place for really a few reasons. 1 was byproduct credits. Right? When we came into the year, we had to make assumptions as it related to specifically gold and zinc and you know, zinc, 1 of the things that sometimes people forget about is the large byproduct credit that Greens Creek does have in zinc. And both of those have been more favorable than the assumptions that we made.

And that is part of what we are seeing during the year. And then also, you know, keep in mind our sustaining capital also went down slightly, so that also improved our all-in sustaining cost. From the perspective of kind of just production costs. We do see about 50% of our cost comes from labor. And that will be something as we see competition for whether that is in the Silver Valley or elsewhere. That will be something that we are going to have to keep up with. You know, I think in the current term, you can see in our cost structure, we have not been impacted significantly.

It will be something that we will have to keep in mind as we go forward.

Operator: This completes the time allotted for questions. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Mike Parkin via the contact us link on the website. I will now turn the call back to Robert Krcmarov,

Robert L. Krcmarov: President and CEO, for closing remarks. Well, thank you. And just to pick up on that point, I do encourage you. I know that we have run out of our allocated time, but questions are important to us. So please do reach out to Mike after this call. And so thank you all for the thoughtful questions today, and thanks for joining us this morning. I am gonna leave this with you. We are in the strongest financial position this company's ever been in. We are well positioned to achieve our 2026 guidance and we are putting that strength to work for our shareholders and we look forward to updating you again next quarter. Thanks and have a great day.

Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

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