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[HECLA LOGO]                                                    Exhibit A


                               June 5, 1995

          HECLA ACQUIRES KAOLIN MINES AND PLANT IN SOUTH CAROLINA

     COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO --  Hecla Mining Company (HL, HL-B\NYSE)
today announced the acquisition of kaolin mines and processing
facilities in Langley, South Carolina.  The operation was purchased
from J.M. Huber Corporation and will be managed by Hecla's
industrial minerals subsidiary, Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company. 

     K-T Clay mines and processes ball clay, kaolin and feldspar
for the ceramics industry and other consumer uses.  Gary Childress,
Hecla's vice president - industrial minerals, said, "This
acquisition enhances K-T Clay's capabilities to provide filler
grade airfloat kaolin to its customers in the paint, rubber and
plastics industries.  It also expands our product line to include
surface-modified airfloat kaolin."  Childress said chemical
surface-modification of airfloat kaolin enables the clay to perform
as a functional filler.

     The Langley facility is located about 15 miles from K-T Clay's
Aiken, South Carolina, operation.  To increase efficiency for both
operations, the Aiken processing facility will be shut down and put
on a care-and-maintenance status, while the Langley plant will
process kaolin from both the Aiken and Langley mines.  The Langley
facility will be staffed with the work force currently at the Aiken
plant, along with some Langley employees required to operate the
plant.

     Hecla Mining Company, with more than a century of operation,
is one of the United States' best-known silver producers.  The
company's operations are principally in the U.S. and Mexico.  Hecla
has a growing gold profile and is a major supplier of ball clay,
kaolin and other industrial minerals.  The common and preferred
shares of Hecla are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbols HL and HL-B, respectively.

                                   -HL-

Contact:  Vicki Veltkamp, manager - corporate communications 208/769-4144
          Michael H. Callahan, investor relations assistant 208/769-4102