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.”

“We are very pleased to have satisfied the requirements of the Exchange for the RTO process involving Santa Rosa Silver Mining Corp. (The San Javier Project) and Canuc Resources Corporation. We will now move forward as expeditiously as possible to obtain final approval from the TSX-V for the resumption of trading of the Company’s shares, and then to confirm values and project characteristics as outlined in our qualifying technical reports. We anticipate developing accretive shareholder value and are excited about prospects for the San Javier Project and bringing to market this silver/gold property.” – Chris Berlet.