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Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category | Dec. 31, 2015 | Dec. 31, 2014
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Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 100.00% | 100.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Cash [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 2.00% | 3.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Large Cap U.S. Equity [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 10.00% | 11.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Small Cap U.S. Equity [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 5.00% | 6.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 9.00% | 8.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 34.00% | 34.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Real Estate [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 18.00% | 15.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Hedge Funds [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 15.00% | 14.00%
Hecla Mining Company Retirement Plan [Member] | Real Return [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 7.00% | 9.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 100.00% | 100.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Cash [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 4.00% | 1.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Large Cap U.S. Equity [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 10.00% | 11.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Small Cap U.S. Equity [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 5.00% | 6.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 9.00% | 10.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 33.00% | 34.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Real Estate [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 18.00% | 16.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Hedge Funds [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 14.00% | 15.00%
Lucky Friday Pension Plan [Member] | Real Return [Member] |  |
Note 8 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details) - Allocations of Investments and Measurement Dates by Asset Category [Line Items] |  |
Asset categories | 7.00% | 7.00%

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- Definition Percentage of fair value of investments (categorized by debt securities, equity securities, real estate and other plan assets) to the fair value of plan assets held. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 715 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=58740216&loc=d3e2446-114920 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 715 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (d)(1) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=58740216&loc=d3e1928-114920 + Details
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