US markets move higher during the Feb 21-25 trading week

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 462.14 points or 1.35% to 34,058.75 and the S&P 500 rose 79.89 points or 1.82% to 4,384.65. Spot gold fell US$9.65 per oz. or 0.51% to US$1,884.80 per ounce.  

Shares of Hecla Mining jumped 15.1% to US$5.87. The company announced that its proven and probable reserves grew to 200 million ounces in 2021 — the second highest level in the company’s 130-year history. The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based miner said a significant portion of the increase was the result of exploration carried out at its Greens Creek mine in southeast Alaska. Hecla not only replaced silver production (15.2 million silver ounces contained), but also increased proven and probable reserves by 6%, or 11.5 million ounces, over 2020. The company’s three operating mines — Greens Creek, Lucky Friday (Idaho) and Casa Berardi (Quebec) — now host a combined 37.3 million tonnes of reserves containing 200 million ounces of silver, 2.73 million ounces of gold, 1.81 billion pounds of zinc, and 1.47 billion pounds of lead. “Since 2008, Hecla has, through exploration, added 239 million silver ounces in reserves, replacing production while also growing resources,” president and CEO Phillips Baker said in a press release. 

Lithium Americas rose by 5.7% to US$28.74 per share. The company received the final key state-level permits for its Thacker Pass lithium project in the United States from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. The three permits include the Water Pollution Control permit, Mine Reclamation permit and Class II Air Quality Operating permit. “With the … permits in hand, Lithium Americas can begin to advance Thacker Pass towards construction,” Jonathan Evans, the company’s CEO, stated in a press release. The project, he said, provides an opportunity to help create a U.S.-based battery supply chain for the electric vehicle market.  

Vale’s shares gained 7.1% or US$1.18 to US$17.82. The company resumed operations at its Totten mine near Sudbury, Ontario. Production was halted last year after a scoop bucket became lodged in the main shaft. Thirty-nine workers who were underground at the time were safely returned to surface via a secondary egress. All of the mine’s workers are now back to work and the company said it is ramping up production.  The company expects Totten to produce between 175,000 and 190,000 tonnes of nickel this year. 

Iamgold’s shares fell by 3.2% to US$3.07. On February 25, the company said that a fire occurred overnight in the concrete batch plant at its Côté gold project in Ontario. It was extinguished by the local fire department and on-site emergency responders. No injuries were reported, the company said, and activities at site resumed in the morning. An investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched.