Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Drift & Fill
- Mechanized Cut & Fill
- Longhole open stoping
- Longitudinal retreat
- Cemented backfill
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 8.17 years (as of Jan 1, 2020) |
Keno Hill is one of the world’s highest-grade silver mines. Hecla Mining Company began ramp-up of the Keno Hill mill during the second quarter of 2023 and expects to operate at full production levels by year-end and to reach 2.5 million ounces of silver in 2023. |
Source:
p. 9,146
Keno Hill is 100% owned and was acquired as part of Hecla"s acquisition of Alexco on September 7, 2022.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Sediment-hosted
- Vein / narrow vein
Summary:
The Keno Hill deposits do not readily fit into a recognised mineral deposit model and attempts to classify a “deposit type” for the mineralization are questionable since the source(s) of metals and conditions related to ore-deposition are poorly understood.
Beaudoin and Sangster (1992) classified the Keno Hill as sediment-hosted veins, likened to the silver bearing deposits at Coeur d’Alene, USA and the Kokanee Range, Canada. A genetic relationship between silver-lead-zinc and intrusion related gold mineralization has also been postulated (Mair et al., 2006).
The mineralization has been more recently classified as belonging to the Lithogene genetic group (Greybeal and Vikre, 2010) which invokes a depositional environment of re-mobilized metals, with no magmatic contribution or associated gold.
Current information, however, shows that this latter classification is not correct, as there is some magmatic component, with local felsic intrusives acting at least in part as a heat source for hydrothermal fluid circulation and gold is associated with the mineralization.
Mineralization in the Keno Hill Silver District comprises carbonate vein hosted polymetallic silver-lead-zinc as described by Boyle (1965), Cathro (2006), Murphy (1997) and Roots (1997). It typically exhibits a succession of hydrothermally precipitated minerals deposited in veins or veinlets as a result of multiple pulses of hydrothermal fluid boiling events, probably relat ........

Mining Methods
- Drift & Fill
- Mechanized Cut & Fill
- Longhole open stoping
- Longitudinal retreat
- Cemented backfill
Summary:
The Keno Hill Silver District (KHSD) project contains four separate deposits: Bellekeno, Bermingham, Flame & Moth, and Lucky Queen. All are characterized by high-grades, narrow vein widths, and challenging ground conditions.
All four deposits will be mined by mechanized underground mining methods of cut and fill (MCF) and longhole open stoping (LHOS) with cemented rock fill and unconsolidated rock fill.
The KHSD Project is composed of four silver/lead/zinc narrow-vein hosted deposits located throughout the district; Bellekeno Deposit (BK); Lucky Queen Deposit (LQ); Flame & Moth Deposit (FM); and Bermingham Deposit (BM). It is noted that the Flame & Moth and Bermingham deposits are comprised of several zones. All deposits will be extracted using overhand mechanized cut and fill (MCF) and longhole open stoping (LHOS) underground mining methods with cemented rock fill (CRF) and unconsolidated rock fill (URF) backfill types.
While production mining at KHSD Project will predominantly use mechanized C&F mining method several zones of the Bermingham and Flame & Moth deposits will be extracted using LHOS. In these areas, all available geotechnical drill hole data proximal to the planned stope hanging wall was used for stability analysis.
The Bellekeno, Lucky Queen, and Bermingham proposed mining zones are located above the valley floor. Consequently, this tends to limit the occurrence and effect of adverse hydrogeological conditions.
Source:
Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Reserves at December 31, 2022:
The reserve NSR cut-off value at Keno Hill is $244.24/ton (CAN$350/tonne), Metallurgical recovery: 93% for silver, 25% for gold, 93% for lead, 72% for zinc.
The resource NSR cut-off value at Keno Hill is $129.10/ton (CAN$185/tonne); using minimum width of 4.9 feet (1.5m); metallurgical recovery: 93% for silver, 25% for gold, 93% for lead, 72% for zinc.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Probable
|
2,197 k tons
|
Silver
|
22.5 oz/ton
|
49,473 koz
|
Probable
|
2,197 k tons
|
Gold
|
0.01 oz/ton
|
13 koz
|
Probable
|
2,197 k tons
|
Lead
|
2.4 %
|
52,520 tons
|
Probable
|
2,197 k tons
|
Zinc
|
2.2 %
|
49,320 tons
|
Indicated
|
4,061 k tons
|
Silver
|
8 oz/ton
|
32,288 koz
|
Indicated
|
4,061 k tons
|
Gold
|
0.007 oz/ton
|
29 koz
|
Indicated
|
4,061 k tons
|
Lead
|
1 %
|
39,540 tons
|
Indicated
|
4,061 k tons
|
Zinc
|
4 %
|
163,130 tons
|
Inferred
|
2,441 k tons
|
Silver
|
10.4 oz/ton
|
25,478 koz
|
Inferred
|
2,441 k tons
|
Gold
|
0.003 oz/ton
|
8 koz
|
Inferred
|
2,441 k tons
|
Lead
|
0.9 %
|
22,380 tons
|
Inferred
|
2,441 k tons
|
Zinc
|
2.1 %
|
51,000 tons
|
Commodity Production Costs:
| Commodity | Units | 2023 |
Cash costs
|
Silver
|
USD
|
......
|
All-in sustaining costs (AISC)
|
Silver
|
USD
|
......
|
^ Guidance / Forecast.
† Net of By-Product.
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Financials:
| Units | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Capital expenditures (planned)
|
M USD
| ......  | | |
Capital expenditures
|
M USD
| | ......  | |
Revenue
|
M
| | | ......  |
Operating Income
|
M
| | ......  | ......  |
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Source:

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