“We demonstrated a significant improvement in our operations in 2016 on several fronts. Production increased to a record 392,000 ounces and we delivered a substantial reduction in operating costs and capital spending. This translated into strong free cash flow growth from our operations, a trend we expect to continue into 2017 with further production growth and cost reductions,” said John A. McCluskey, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Fred Stanford, President & CEO of Torex stated: “280,000 ounces of gold in the first year of the ramp up, speaks to the quality of the deposit, the constructed asset, and the skill of the team in navigating through the technical and social start-up challenges. The ramp-up is expected to be completed during 2017, as solutions are in hand for the two remaining material technical issues. Construction is underway on the SART plant to manage the soluble copper and a decision has been made to increase tailings filtration capacity.” He added, “2017 will also be an exciting year from a development perspective as step-out drilling on the Sub-Sill discovery is planned and delivered, a resource estimate is prepared, and access is completed to allow material from this zone to be processed before year end. Media Luna is also poised to take a major step forward in 2017 with permits expected for an access ramp that we intend to start developing before year end. It promises to be an interesting year as we complete the ramp up of ELG and prepare the Company for the next stage of growth.”

Global Proven and Probable mineral reserves increased 31%, or 1.8 million ounces, to total 7.7 million ounces of gold, reflecting a significant increase in mineral reserves at La Yaqui and the declaration of initial mineral reserves at Kirazl? and A?? Da??I. Increased combined Proven and Probable mineral reserves at La Yaqui to 608,000 ounces of gold2, a 519,000 ounce increase. Combined mineral reserves and resources at La Yaqui increased 113% to 684,000 ounces3 through a very successful 2016 exploration program

“We finished 2016 strongly, with record silver and silver equivalent production for the year and robust performance at all our mines driving record sales, strong net income and more than doubling adjusted EBITDA over last year,” said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla’s President and CEO. “And despite using one of the most conservative price assumptions in the industry, we almost completely replaced the silver reserves that were mined, a very satisfying achievement considering our record silver production levels and lowest exploration budget since 2009.”

“First Majestic delivered yet another record year of production, realizing the high end of our annual production guidance of 18.7 million silver equivalent ounces while achieving an all-in sustaining cost of $10.79 per ounce that came in well below our cost guidance range of $11.50 to $12.35 per ounce,” said Keith Neumeyer, President and CEO of First Majestic.

“Our 2016 exploration program substantially replaced our depleted Mineral Resources,” stated Damien Marantelli, Chief Operating Officer. “However, our Mineral Reserve estimate was affected by mining depletion and improvements we made to our geological controls and modelling methodologies. We believe these important changes will set up our mines for future successes through improved planning, predictability and deliverability. Primero has traditionally had a strong history of replacing Mineral Reserves and we remain confident in the significant mineral endowment of our mining districts. In 2016, our exploration programs identified additional Resources but not yet at a confidence level to convert to Reserves. This can be demonstrated by the recent discovery of an extension to the high-grade Victoria vein at San Dimas in late 2016. In an effort to increase our Mineral Reserve base going forward, at a rate closer to historical levels, our 2017 San Dimas exploration budget is approximately double the expenditure of 2016, with a focus on defining additional mineralization on known favourable structures located close to existing infrastructure. We also look forward to continuing our exploration of San Dimas’ greenfield southern concessions, which exist outside the silver purchase agreement.”

“Hecla’s financial discipline focuses on profitable production, so we used the same silver price assumption as last year, $14.50, yet still essentially replaced production despite production being a 125-year record. Maybe most impressive is that it was done with the smallest exploration budget since 2009. The margins we expect to generate give us the flexibility to increase our exploration budget by about 80%, with a focus on extending mine lives, yet still generate positive cash flow in 2017,” said Phillips S. Baker, Jr., Hecla’s President and CEO. “At San Sebastian we are starting the year where we left off in 2016, with a significant drilling program designed to capitalize on our discovery success as we seek to expand our high-grade tonnage. The quality and quantity of the targets give us confidence that we may extend the mine life even further.”