UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13G
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. ___)*
| Hecla Mining Company |
| (Name of Issuer) |
| Common Stock, par value $0.25 per share |
| (Title of Class of Securities) |
| 422704106 |
| (CUSIP Number) |
September 7, 2022 |
| (Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement) |
| Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed. | |
| ☐ | Rule 13d-1(b) |
| ☒ | Rule 13d-1(c) |
| ☐ | Rule 13d-1(d) |
*The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person’s initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.
The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).
| CUSIP No. 422704106 | SCHEDULE 13G | Page 2 of 5 |
| 1 |
NAME OF REPORTING PERSON
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. |
|
| 2 |
CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP
|
(a) ☐ (b) ☐ |
| 3 |
SEC USE ONLY
|
|
| 4 |
CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION
Ontario, Canada |
|
NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON WITH |
5 |
SOLE VOTING POWER
34,800,989 |
| 6 |
SHARED VOTING POWER
0 | |
| 7 |
SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER
34,800,989 | |
| 8 |
SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER
0 |
| 9 |
AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON
34,800,989 |
|
| 10 |
CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES
|
☐ |
| 11 |
PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9)
5.9% (1) |
|
| 12 |
TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON
CO |
| (1) | The ownership percentage is based on an aggregate of 594,393,368 shares of common stock, par value $0.25 per share, of the Issuer issued and outstanding as of September 7, 2022, based on the Issuer’s Quarterly Report, filed on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on August 5, 2022, and the Issuer’s Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 7, 2022. |
| CUSIP No. 422704106 | SCHEDULE 13G | Page 3 of 5 |
| ITEM 1. | (a) | Name of Issuer: |
| Hecla Mining Company (the “Issuer”) | ||
| (b) | Address of Issuer’s Principal Executive Offices: | |
| 6500 North Mineral Drive, Suite 200 | ||
| Coeur d’Alene, ID | ||
| 83815-9408 | ||
| ITEM 2. | (a) | Name of Person Filing: |
| Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (“Wheaton”) | ||
| (b) | Address of Principal Business Office, or if None, Residence: | |
| The Principal Business Office of Wheaton is: | ||
| Suite 3500 - 1021 West Hastings Street | ||
| Vancouver, British Columbia | ||
| V6E 0C3 | ||
| Canada | ||
| (c) | Citizenship: | |
| Wheaton is a corporation organized under the laws of Ontario, Canada. | ||
| (d) | Title of Class of Securities: | |
| Common Stock, par value $0.25 per share | ||
| (e) | CUSIP Number: | |
| 422704106 | ||
| ITEM 3. | IF THIS STATEMENT IS FILED PURSUANT TO §240.13D-1(B) OR 240.13D-2(B) OR (C), CHECK WHETHER THE PERSON FILING IS A: | |
| Not applicable. | ||
| CUSIP No. 422704106 | SCHEDULE 13G | Page 4 of 5 |
| ITEM 4. | OWNERSHIP | ||
| (a) | Amount beneficially owned: | ||
| On July 4, 2022, Wheaton entered into a Stream Termination Agreement (the “Stream Termination Agreement”) with the Issuer, pursuant to which Wheaton agreed to terminate its silver streaming interest in the Keno Hill silver mine owned by Alexco Resource Corp. (“Alexco”), in connection with the acquisition of Alexco by the Issuer. Pursuant to the terms of the Stream Termination Agreement, the Issuer issued 34,800,989 shares of common stock to Wheaton upon the closing of the Issuer’s acquisition of Alexco on September 7, 2022. | |||
| (b) | Percent of class: | ||
| See Row 11 of the cover page. | |||
| (c) | Number of shares as to which such person has: | ||
| (i) | Sole power to vote or to direct the vote | ||
| See Row 5 of the cover page. | |||
| (ii) | Shared power to vote or to direct the vote | ||
| See Row 6 of the cover page. | |||
| (iii) | Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of | ||
| See Row 7 of the cover page. | |||
| (iv) | Shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition of | ||
| See Row 8 of the cover page. | |||
| ITEM 5. | OWNERSHIP OF FIVE PERCENT OR LESS OF A CLASS. | ||
| Not applicable. | |||
| ITEM 6. | OWNERSHIP OF MORE THAN FIVE PERCENT ON BEHALF OF ANOTHER PERSON. | ||
| Not applicable. | |||
| ITEM 7. | IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE SUBSIDIARY WHICH ACQUIRED THE SECURITY BEING REPORTED ON BY THE PARENT HOLDING COMPANY. | ||
| Not applicable. | |||
| ITEM 8. | IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF MEMBERS OF THE GROUP. | ||
| Not applicable. | |||
| ITEM 9. | NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF GROUP | ||
| Not applicable. | |||
| ITEM 10. | CERTIFICATIONS. | ||
| By signing below I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the securities referred to above were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having that purpose or effect, other than activities solely in connection with a nomination under §240.14a-11. | |||
| CUSIP No. 422704106 | SCHEDULE 13G | Page 5 of 5 |
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.
Dated: September 12, 2022
| WHEATON PRECIOUS METALS CORP. | |||
| By: | /s/ Curt Bernardi | ||
| Name: Curt Bernardi | |||
| Title: Senior Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary | |||