Hecla is committed to being a responsible steward of water in our operations, in order to safeguard this critical natural resource and reduce potential impacts on local communities.
During all phases of the mine life cycle, our operations have controls in place to protect water resources, and we conduct extensive and ongoing assessments that inform decision making. Our water stewardship practices include reducing freshwater use where possible, using water efficiently including recycling and reuse, maintaining water quality, managing water discharge, and engaging with our communities to collaboratively manage shared water resources.
Each site has a comprehensive water management plan tailored to that site, considering variations for water sources, levels of precipitation, and operational changes.
Comprehensive water quality monitoring programs help ensure we meet all applicable regulatory requirements related to water.
We implement water quality monitoring programs including analysis of baseline water conditions and extensive sampling, quality analysis, and audits. The monitoring programs also identify opportunities to increase recycling and reuse of water to reduce associated discharges of treated water.
Hecla is always focused on using water more efficiently. We continue to advance company-wide efforts to meet our goal to reduce three-year freshwater intensity usage (gallons/ metric ore milled) by 5% from the 2018 baseline year.
Whenever possible, we recycle and reuse water for milling and processing to help offset our freshwater withdrawal.
In 2022, we initiated a discharge reduction strategic planning effort at Lucky Friday, with a goal of reducing site-wide discharge by 35% in three years. This would be achieved by recycling more water on site to meet operational needs, with the ultimate goal of reducing the amount of water diverted, treated, and discharged.
|
2019 |
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawn (gallons) |
970,840,220 |
850,813,590 |
977,053,294
|
853,724,822
|
| Recycled (gallons) |
1,229,256,885 |
1,321,390,160 |
1,132,333,543
|
1,299,638,697
|
| Discharged (gallons) |
2,464,207,407 |
2,758,218,825 |
2,937,208,122
|
1,611,419,663
|
| Total % Recycled |
50% |
48% |
39%
|
62%
|
Had zero incidents of non-compliance associated with water quality permits, standards, and regulations
Recycled 62% of process water
Saw marked improvement in water management at our Lucky Friday mine–achieved 100% compliance while achieving record production
