At the Greens Creek mine in Alaska, approximately 39,000 feet of underground in-fill and exploration drilling was completed in 2009. The drilling tested the peripheries of known zones including the 5250, Deep 200 South and the NWW-South in the mine resulting in a replacement of tons mined during 2009.
Hecla continues to be encouraged with the NE contact, a relatively new target area that is located adjacent to mine infrastructure. Five exploration holes, including three from surface drilled through the targeted contact horizon encountering disseminated and stringer mineralization in highly altered rocks with local intervals of low-grade silver mineralization. The last drill hole in the program intersected massive and semi-massive pyrite mineralization over a 20-foot interval and suggests proximity to a new massive sulfide body.