Form 8-K

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 12, 2008

 

 

HECLA MINING COMPANY

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   1-8491   77-0664171

(State or Other Jurisdiction

of Incorporation)

  (Commission File Number)  

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

6500 North Mineral Drive, Suite 200

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83815-9408

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

(208) 769-4100

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

N/A

(Former name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

 

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12(b))

 

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

 

 


Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On August 12, 2008, we entered into an agreement (the “Amendment”) with Independence Lead Mines Company (“Independence”) and Hecla Merger Company, our wholly-owned subsidiary (“Buyer”), amending the Asset Purchase Agreement by and among Independence, Hecla Mining Company, and Buyer dated as of February 12, 2008 (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”). A copy of the Asset Purchase Agreement was filed as Exhibit 2.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 19, 2008, and is incorporated herein by reference.

The Amendment extended the date in Section 8.1(b)(ii) of the Asset Purchase Agreement from August 12, 2008 to December 15 2008, pursuant to which, we or Independence may terminate the Asset Purchase Agreement by notice to the other party if the closing contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement shall not have occurred. A copy of the Amendment is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

The Asset Purchase Agreement and Amendment have been incorporated by reference herein to provide you with information regarding their terms. They are not intended to provide any other factual information about us. Such information can be found elsewhere in other public filings we have made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available without charge at www.sec.gov.

The Asset Purchase Agreement contains representations and warranties we made. The assertions embodied in those representations and warranties are qualified by information in confidential disclosure schedules that we have exchanged in connection with signing the Asset Purchase Agreement. While we do not believe that they contain information securities laws require us to publicly disclose other than information that has already been so disclosed, the disclosure schedules do contain information that modifies, qualifies and creates exceptions to the representations and warranties set forth in the Asset Purchase Agreement. Accordingly you should not rely on the representations and warranties as characterizations of the actual state of facts, since they are modified in important part by the underlying disclosure schedules.

The disclosure schedules contain information that has been included in our general prior public disclosures, as well as potential additional non-public information. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter of the representations and warranties may have changed since the date of the Asset Purchase Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in public disclosures.

 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

 

Exhibit
Number

  

Description

2.1

   Agreement to Amend the Asset Purchase Agreement by and among Independence Lead Mines Company, Hecla Mining Company and Hecla Merger Company, dated August 12, 2008

 

2


SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Dated: August 13, 2008

 

Hecla Mining Company
By:  

/s/ Philip C. Wolf

  Philip C. Wolf
 

Senior Vice President & General

Counsel

 

3