Hecla Mining Shares Up on Surprise Profit

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (TheStreet) -- Hecla Mining(HL Quote) reported a surprise profit for its third quarter, and investors bid up the intermediate silver and gold miner's shares, leading other precious-metals stocks into the green.

After Monday's closing bell, Hecla said it earned $22.5 million, or 9 cents a share, better than the break-even bottom line analysts were expecting. Revenue, meanwhile, came to $95.2 million, blowing away Wall Street estimates of $68.7 million.

A year ago, Hecla lost $7.2 million on revenue of $68.5 million.

Even in a prepared statement in the company's press release, Hecla's CEO, Phillips Baker, could barely contain his glee. "We had one of the best quarters in our hundred-year history," he said.

He attributed the results to "record" revenue generated through the acquisition of the rest of the Greens Creek mine, on Admiralty Island, off the coast of Alaska, which doubled the company's silver production. Hecla bought out Rio Tinto in April 2008 for $750 million.

Looking ahead, Hecla said it's on track to meet its previously announced goal of taking 10.5 million to 11 million ounces of silver out of the ground in 2009. The company is more sanguine, however, on mining expenses. It has lowered its full-year cash-cost estimate to $2.25 per ounce of silver produced by its mines. By comparison, the company registered cash costs as high as $4.46 an ounce in 2008's third quarter.