Hecla's Lucky Friday Doubles Silver Reserves.

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) today announced that proven and probable silver reserves at its Lucky Friday mine in northern Idaho have doubled from a year ago, to 17.2 million ounces of silver. After accounting for mine production in 2005, 8.7 million ounces of silver reserves were converted from resource to reserve during the year. An even larger resource has been identified beyond that, insuring a long life for this already long-lived mine.

Hecla President and Chief Executive Officer Phillips S. Baker, Jr., said, "We see this mine as a cornerstone of Hecla's silver production for many years to come. The decision we made in 2003 to develop the 5900 level at the Lucky Friday mine and access significantly more ore has positioned us to take immediate advantage of the higher silver and lead prices right now and in the future. I think many people don't understand the value and great future in this excellent geologic environment. Currently, we have a mine plan that stretches into the year 2013, with no sign of ending at that time. Right now, we have an identified reserve and resource that equals all the silver mined during the past 33 years of production at the Lucky Friday. And this year, we will start to evaluate how we can access the ore below the current mine plan, which would be deeper than the bottom of the mine's Silver Shaft."

The increase in reserves at Lucky Friday was facilitated by the development of the 5900 level, not the rise in metals prices. The latest ore reserve at the Lucky Friday mine was calculated at metals prices that are much more conservative than current market prices. The prices used for the calculation were: silver at $6.20 per ounce, lead at $0.30 per pound, and zinc at $0.44 per pound, compared to market prices as of February 1, 2006, of $9.77 per ounce of silver, $0.65 per pound of lead and $1.06 per pound of zinc.

Lucky Friday Unit, USA
                        Estimated Ore Reserves
                         at December 31, 2005


                              Tons    Silver (oz/ton)     Lead   Zinc
                                                           (%)   (%)

Proven and Probable        1,288,640            13.4       7.7    2.9
Mineralized Material(1)(2) 4,800,510             8.6       5.0    2.9
Other Resources(1)(3)      3,454,690             9.0       5.5    3.0


                            Silver (ounces)  Lead (tons)   Zinc (tons)


Proven and Probable             17,209,268       98,724        37,669
Mineralized Material(1)(2)
Other Resources(1)(3)


(1) Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines do not allow the
 company to complete the calculation of tons multiplied by grade to
 equal contained ounces in the "mineralized material" and "other
 resources" categories.
(2) In situ Measured and Indicated resources from Gold Hunter and
 Lucky Friday vein systems, diluted and factored for expected mining
 recovery.
(3)  Inferred resources, diluted to assumed mining width and adjusted
 for mining recovery.

The development of the 5900 level provided the capability of taking dense-spaced chip channel sampling, which allowed the projection of the known reserve both upward and downward from the new level. In addition, an aggressive diamond-drilling program during the year resulted in 26,587 feet of drilled footage in a total of 69 drill holes. Deep level drill testing to the 6400 level was also conducted from the new 5900 level. As a result of these exploration efforts, the economic strike length of the vein increased by more than 10% at the 5900 level compared to the length of the 4900 level.

In 2006, exploration plans include tighter-spaced drilling to upgrade more of the resource to reserve below the new 5900 level. In addition, deeper drilling between 6,700 and 7,000 feet below the surface will be aimed at increasing the resource even further.

With the Silver Shaft reaching 6,200 feet below the surface, the Lucky Friday Unit is the U.S.'s deepest operating precious metals mine, and has produced more than 132 million ounces of silver since 1942. The operation has been one of Hecla's flagships for nearly half a century, since 1958. As is typical with deep, underground mines, reserves at the Lucky Friday are converted from resources as mining continues deeper, and although it has been in operation for more than 60 years, rarely has it had more than three or four years of reserves.

Hecla Mining Company, headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, mines, processes and explores for silver and gold in the United States, Venezuela and Mexico. A 114-year-old company, Hecla has long been well known in the mining world and financial markets as a quality silver and gold producer. Hecla's common and preferred shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols HL and HL-PrB.

Statements made which are not historical facts, such as anticipated payments, litigation outcome, production, sales of assets, exploration results and plans, costs, and prices or sales performance are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated, expected or implied. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, metals price volatility, volatility of metals production and costs, exploration risks and results, political risks, project development risks, labor issues and ability to raise financing. Refer to the company's Form 10-Q and 10-K reports for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The company undertakes no obligation and has no intention of updating forward-looking statements.

Cautionary Note to Investors -- The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this news release, such as "resource," "other resources," and "mineralized material" that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in our filing with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K. You can review and obtain copies of these filings from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

Hecla's Home Page can be accessed on the Internet at: http://www.hecla-mining.com .