Reclamation is an integral part of every Hecla project from the initial design process. We also communicate progress to and collaborate with local stakeholders to ensure we are aligned on closure goals such as returning the land to other productive uses.
All our sites are required to maintain up-to-date plans for reclamation and closure, and Hecla has committed more than $180 million to ensure mined lands are successfully reclaimed.
At the Troy Mine in Montana, where we completed reclamation in 2020 of the 300-acre Troy Tailings Storage Facility (TSF), we continued work in 2021 on additional reclamation projects including the removal of facilities from U.S. Forest Service land.
Workers began the process of moving and placing almost 450,000 cubic yards of soil over 308 acres.
We partnered with tribal nursery to collect native plant seedlings and planted more than 200,000 trees and shrubs.
Final reclamation completed. A self-sustaining native forest community and wildlife habitat is already growing and coming to life.
Learn more about our reclamation work at Troy Mine.
Reclamation efforts include backfilling the open pits with rock and soil so that the land can be used again for agricultural purposes by the local community now that mining the ore body is complete. Upon
completion of the reclamation project, the land will be returned to its owners for agricultural use.
Hecla’s biodiversity footprint is not restricted to our mine sites – the actions we take can extend to habitats and species that live and migrate beyond our direct operations.
Where possible, we consult with local communities and Indigenous Peoples for guidance and insight about wildlife. Plans include monitoring, studying, protecting, and supporting ecosystems.
To proceed with operations, Hecla Quebec had to detour the Kaackakosig Creek. The creek diversion required various authorizations from the provincial and federal governments. Throughout the permitting process, several stakeholders were solicited, including our Liaison Committee, the First Nations, and other organizations. These key stakeholders were involved in determining the actual use of the watercourse, the detour options, and the identification of compensation projects. Three compensation projects were accepted by the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), namely support to UQAT for the study of Lake Osisko in Rouyn-Noranda, the rehabilitation of the water link on a section of the Cadillac River located in the municipality of St-Mathieu d’Harricanna, as well as the stabilization of banks in a sector of Lake Berry. These compensation works will be carried out during the years 2022, 2023, and 2024, and annual follow-ups on the effectiveness of the developments will be carried out until 2031.
Hecla Quebec continues to be a partner of a joint research project between the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) and Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), to host the Industrial Research Chair focused on northern biodiversity in a mining context. The mission of the project, supervised by the Industrial Research Chair, is to understand mine footprints over the mine life cycle and develop developing strategies to minimize impacts on biodiversity of plants and animal species in the northern Quebec region.
In northwest Montana, Hecla owns approximately 8,600 acres of land of which approximately 6,400 acres were acquired with the goal of preserving the forest and associated watersheds as habitat for wildlife such as deer, elk, moose, and endangered species such as grizzly bears. For the past decade a Hecla owned subsidiary has donated approximately $500,000 to Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks to support a Grizzly Bear Management Specialist.
Greens Creek Mine constructed a fish passage to bypass a natural barrier to salmon spawning habitat, which has created nearly three miles of additional spawning habitat. Work includes monitoring, studying, protecting, and supporting ecosystems.
