Hecla Mining Company (HL) Volatility Skew

Implied volatility skew shows how IV varies across strike prices for a given expiration. Steeper skews indicate higher demand for downside protection relative to upside speculation.

Hecla Mining Company (HL) operates in the Basic Materials sector, specifically the Gold industry, with a market capitalization near $14.12B, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 1,830 people, carrying a beta of 1.26 to the broader market. Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, acquires, develops, and produces precious and base metal properties in the United States and internationally. Led by Robert L. Krcmarov, public since 1980-03-17.

Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.

Spot Price
$17.68
ATM IV
69.8%
IV Skew 25Δ
-0.044
IV Rank
42.8%
IV Percentile
44.4%
Term Structure Slope
-0.018

As of May 15, 2026, Hecla Mining Company (HL) at-the-money implied volatility is 69.8%. IV rank is 42.8% (where 0% is the 52-week low and 100% is the 52-week high). IV percentile is 44.4%. The 25-delta skew is -0.044: puts carry meaningful premium over calls, a classic equity downside-protection skew. High IV rank typically favors premium-selling strategies; low IV rank favors premium-buying.

HL Strategy Selection at Current Volatility Levels

For Hecla Mining Company options at 69.8% ATM IV, mid-range IV rank (42.8%) is the regime where directional conviction matters more than vol-regime positioning; strategy choice should follow the event calendar and the dealer-positioning view rather than IV rank alone. The 25-delta skew is meaningfully put-skewed, so put-credit spreads capture more premium for the same width than call-credit spreads. Pair the vol-rank read with the dealer-gamma view and the upcoming-events calendar to confirm the strategy fits both the structural regime and the path-dependent risk. The variance risk premium - the persistent gap between implied and subsequently realized vol - is positive in equity markets on average; high IV rank typically reflects a stretch where the premium is wider than usual.

Learn how volatility skew is reported and how to read the data →

HL highest implied-volatility contracts

TypeStrikeExpirationVolumeOIIVBidAsk
PUT$10.00Jan 15, 202796135.0K68.3%$0.48$0.57
PUT$17.50May 22, 20262.6K20470.3%$0.52$0.60
PUT$17.00Jun 26, 20263.2K42769.0%$0.94$1.43
PUT$16.00Jan 15, 202772914471.0%$2.80$2.97
CALL$25.00Jun 18, 202688440.1K78.5%$0.17$0.18
CALL$19.00Jun 18, 20263.3K2.5K70.0%$0.99$1.12
PUT$17.00Jun 26, 20263.2K42769.0%$0.94$1.43
CALL$20.00Jun 18, 20262.9K11.2K70.9%$0.71$0.77
PUT$17.50May 22, 20262.6K20470.3%$0.52$0.60
PUT$12.00Jan 15, 202710424.8K68.3%$0.75$1.28

Top 10 contracts from the ORATS-sourced nightly scan; ranked by iv within the broader S&P 500/400/600 + ETF universe.

Frequently asked HL volatility skew questions

What is the current HL ATM implied volatility?
As of May 15, 2026, Hecla Mining Company (HL) at-the-money implied volatility is 69.8%. IV rank is 42.8% on a 0-100% scale anchored to the 1-year IV range. ATM IV is the volatility input that makes a Black-Scholes-equivalent model reproduce the listed at-the-money option prices.
Is HL IV high or low historically?
IV is near its 1-year median, a regime where strategy choice depends on directional conviction and event calendar rather than vol regime.
What does HL volatility skew tell options traders?
Volatility skew is the pattern by which IV varies across strikes for a given expiration. Hecla Mining Company carries the typical equity downside-protection skew: 25-delta puts price meaningfully richer than 25-delta calls. Skew matters for risk-defined strategy selection: when downside puts are rich, put-credit spreads capture more premium; when upside calls are rich, call-credit spreads or covered-call writes harvest more.