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Note 7 - Debt, Credit Facilities and Capital Leases | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018
Notes to Financial Statements |
Debt Disclosure [Text Block] | Note 7: Debt, Credit Facilities and Capital Leases Senior Notes On April 12, 2013, we completed an offering of $500 million in aggregate principal amount of our Senior Notes due May 1, 2021 in a private placement conducted pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and in 2014, an additional $6.5 million aggregate principal amount of the Senior Notes was issued to one of our pension plans. The Senior Notes were subsequently exchanged for substantially identical Senior Notes registered with the SEC. The Senior Notes are governed by the Indenture, dated as of April 12, 2013, as amended (the "Indenture"), among Hecla Mining Company ("Hecla") and certain of our subsidiaries and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee. The net proceeds from the initial offering of the Senior Notes ( $490 million) were used to partially fund the acquisition of Aurizon Mines Ltd. ("Aurizon") and for general corporate purposes, including expenses related to the Aurizon acquisition. The Senior Notes are recorded net of a 2% initial purchaser discount totaling $10 million at the time of the April 2013 issuance and having an unamortized balance of $3.0 million as of December 31, 2018. The Senior Notes bear interest at a rate of 6.875% per year from the date of original issuance or from the most recent payment date on which interest has been paid or provided for. Interest on the Senior Notes is payable on May 1 and November 1 of each year, commencing November 1, 2013. During 2018, 2017 and 2016, interest expense related to the Senior Notes and amortization of the initial purchaser discount and fees related to the issuance of the Senior Notes totaled $36.3 million, $35.3 million and $20.1 million, respectively. The interest expense related to the Senior Notes for 2017 and 2016 was net of $0.9 million and $16.2 million, respectively, in capitalized interest, primarily related to the #4 Shaft project at our Lucky Friday unit which was completed in January 2017. Interest expense for 2017 also included $0.9 million in costs related to our private offering of new Senior Notes in June 2017 and concurrent tender offer to purchase our existing Senior Notes, which were not completed. The Senior Notes are guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by certain of our subsidiaries (the "Guarantors"). The Senior Notes and the guarantees are, respectively, Hecla's and the Guarantors' general senior unsecured obligations and are subordinated to all of Hecla's and the Guarantors' existing and future secured debt to the extent of the assets securing that secured debt. In addition, the Senior Notes are effectively subordinated to all of the liabilities of Hecla's subsidiaries that are not guaranteeing the Senior Notes, to the extent of the assets of those subsidiaries. There are no covenants on the Senior Notes. The Senior Notes became redeemable in whole or in part, at any time and from time to time after May 1, 2016, on the redemption dates and at the redemption prices specified in the Indenture, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption. Upon the occurrence of a change of control (as defined in the Indenture), each holder of Senior Notes will have the right to require us to purchase all or a portion of such holder's Senior Notes pursuant to a change of control offer (as defined in the Indenture), at a purchase price equal to 101% of the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of purchase, subject to the rights of holders of the Senior Notes on the relevant record date to receive interest due on the relevant interest payment date. Ressources Québec Notes On March 5, 2018, we entered into a note purchase agreement pursuant to which we issued CAD$40 million (approximately USD$30.8 million at the time of the transaction) in aggregate principal amount of our Series 2018 -A Senior Notes due May 1, 2021 ( the “RQ Notes”) to Ressources Québec, a subsidiary of Investissment Québec, a financing arm of the Québec government. Because the RQ notes are denominated in CAD, the reported USD-equivalent principal balance changes with movements in the exchange rate. The RQ Notes were issued at a discount of 0.58%, or CAD$0.2 million, and bear interest at a rate of 4.68% per year, payable on May 1 and November 1 of each year, commencing May 1, 2018. The RQ Notes are senior and unsecured and are pari passu in all material respects with the Senior Notes, including with respect to guarantees of the RQ Notes by certain of our subsidiaries. There are no covenants on the RQ Notes. The net proceeds from the RQ Notes are required to be used for development and expansion of our Casa Berardi mine. During 2018, interest expense related to the RQ Notes, including discount and origination fees, totaled $1.4 million. As of December 31, 2018, the annual future obligations related to our debt, including interest, were (in thousands):
Twelve-month period ending December 31, |  | Senior Notes |  |  | RQ Notes |  |  | Total |
2019 |  | $ | 34,822 |  |  | $ | 1,372 |  |  | $ | 36,194 |
2020 |  |  | 34,822 |  |  |  | 1,372 |  |  | $ | 36,194 |
2021 |  |  | 518,107 |  |  |  | 29,778 |  |  | $ | 547,885 |
Total |  |  | 587,751 |  |  |  | 32,522 |  |  |  | 620,273 |
Less: interest |  |  | (81,251 | ) |  |  | (3,202 | ) |  | $ | (84,453 | )
Principal |  |  | 506,500 |  |  |  | 29,320 |  |  |  | 535,820 |
Less: unamortized discount |  |  | (3,021 | ) |  |  | — |  |  | $ | (3,021 | )
Long-term debt |  | $ | 503,479 |  |  | $ | 29,320 |  |  | $ | 532,799 |
Credit Facilities In July 2018, we entered into a $200 million senior secured revolving credit facility which replaced our previous $100 million credit facility and has a term ending on June 14, 2022, provided, however, that if we do not refinance our outstanding Senior Notes by November 1, 2020, the term of the credit facility ends on November 1, 2020. The credit facility increased to $250 million in November 2018 upon satisfaction of certain conditions, including adding certain subsidiaries of Klondex as borrowers under the credit facility and pledging the assets of those subsidiaries as additional collateral under the credit facility. The credit facility is also collateralized by the shares of common stock held in our material domestic subsidiaries and by our joint venture interests in the Greens Creek mine, all of our rights and interests in the joint venture agreement, and all of our rights and interests in the assets of the joint venture. Below is information on the interest rates, standby fee, and financial covenant terms under our current credit facility:
Interest rates: |  |  |  |  |  |
Spread over the London Interbank Offer Rate |  |  | 2.25 | - | 3.25% |
Spread over alternative base rate |  |  | 1.25 | - | 2.25% |
Standby fee per annum on undrawn amounts |  |  | 0.50% |
Covenant financial ratios: |  |  |  |  |  |
Senior leverage ratio (debt secured by liens/EBITDA) |  |  | not more than 2.50:1 |
Leverage ratio (total debt less unencumbered cash/EBITDA) (1) |  |  | not more than 4.50:1 |
Interest coverage ratio (EBITDA/interest expense) |  |  | not less than 3.00:1 |
( 1 ) The leverage ratio will change to 4.00:1 effective January 1, 2020.
We are also able to obtain letters of credit under the facility, and for any such letters we are required to pay a participation fee of between 2.25% and 3.25% based on our total leverage ratio, as well as a fronting fee to each issuing bank of 0.20% annually on the average daily dollar amount of any outstanding letters of credit. There were $3.0 million in letters of credit outstanding as of December 31, 2018. We believe we were in compliance with all covenants under the credit agreement and no amounts were outstanding as of December 31, 2018. We drew $71.0 million on the facility and repaid that amount in 2018. With the exception of the $3.0 million in letters of credit outstanding, we did not have a balance drawn on the revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2018, with $48.0 million drawn as of the date of this report. As a result of the acquisition of Klondex in July 2018 ( see Note 16 for more information), we assumed Klondex's revolving credit facility balance outstanding of $35.0 million. We paid the $35.0 million balance, and the Klondex credit facility was terminated, in July 2018. Capital Leases We have entered into various lease agreements, primarily for equipment at our operating units, which we have determined to be capital leases. At December 31, 2018, the total liability associated with the capital leases, including certain purchase option amounts, was $13.1 million, with $5.3 million of the liability classified as current and $7.9 million classified as non-current. At December 31, 2017, the total liability balance associated with capital leases was $11.8 million, with $5.6 million of the liability classified as current and $6.2 million classified as non-current. The total obligation for future minimum lease payments was $14.0 million at December 31, 2018, with $0.9 million attributed to interest. At December 31, 2018, the annual maturities of capital lease commitments, including interest, were (in thousands):
Twelve-month period ending December 31, |  |  |  |
2019 |  | $ | 5,745 |
2020 |  |  | 4,480 |
2021 |  |  | 3,052 |
2022 |  |  | 733 |
2023 |  |  | 23 |
Total |  |  | 14,033 |
Less: imputed interest |  |  | (898 | )
Net capital lease obligation |  |  | 13,135 |
Current portion of capital leases |  |  | 5,264 |
Long-term capital leases |  | $ | 7,871 |

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- Definition The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 470 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2208564 + Details
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