Anchorage Daily News

Hecla Mining Co., the Idaho-based minority owner of the Greens Creek Mine near Juneau, plans to purchase the mine from London-based Rio Tinto for $750 million.

The companies have been joint-venture partners at Greens Creek, a silver, gold, zinc and lead underground mine, for the past 20 years, according to Rio Tinto officials. The sale agreement, announced Tuesday, involves a combination of $700 million in cash and $50 million in Hecla stock.

It's the first sale that Rio Tinto has negotiated as part of a plan to sell up to $10 billion of its assets. The plan to divest assets was prompted by the heavy debt it incurred in purchasing Alcan Inc., a global producer of aluminum. Rio Tinto is also planning to sell its coal, talc, gold, copper and uranium projects around the world.

Rio Tinto has had a 70.3 percent stake in the Greens Creek Mine, and Hecla has had a 29.7 percent stake. Rio Tinto said it plans to sell its subsidiaries, Kennecott Greens Creek Mining Co. and Kennecott Juneau Mining Co., to Hecla.

Hecla is 117-year-old company with two silver mines, including Greens Creek, and a gold mine in Venezuela.

"Rest assured that we fully intend to uphold the strong tradition and great reputation of the Greens Creek Mine and its people as we become more involved in the operation and the community of Juneau," said Hecla's president Phillip Baker Jr.