Lucky Friday Extn MINING (LFEX)

[WHITTENHALLJR]

Hecla's silver production has taken a hit since most of the workforce went on strike at the Lucky Friday mine in Idaho in March 2017.

But he remains optimistic about the "game-changing" potential of an Atlas Copco continuous rock miner ordered for Lucky Friday and still on schedule to be delivered next year.

The mine has perhaps another three decades of reserve life if it can get its costs in order.

tlas opco obile iner could be ucky riday game changer
Atlas Copco Mobile Miner could be Lucky Friday 'game changer'
"We're expecting to see this tunnel boring technology on site by the end of 2019, and then we'll test it and if it works we'll eliminate the drill and blast for stopes, [and] we would only drill and blast for development," Baker said.

"[The mobile miner] is specifically ideal for the Lucky Friday because we have a half-mile long [and] roughly a mile vertical, perpendicular vein and it doesn't deviate much left or right. So it's a straight shot and in this perfect set-up … if we're able to have [the continuous miner] working at the face for seven hours of a 24-hour day, we will produce as much ore as we produce today with drilling and blasting.

"If we're able to work it for 11 hours we will completely top out all of the infrastructure that we have.

"So this has the potential to be a huge game changer for the Lucky Friday."

The new production unit could be used at other sites, "but won't be as good an application as it would there [at Lucky Friday]," he said.