Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of silver and gold producer Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) plunged as much as 10% on heavy volume Tuesday on weak precious-metal prices.

So what: A fervent return of investors' appetite for risk sent silver and gold prices slumping Tuesday, with miners Hecla, U.S. Gold (NYSE: UXG), and Silvercorp (NYSE: SVM) among the biggest losers on the New York Stock Exchange. At the time of this writing, more than 18 million Hecla shares have traded, versus its three-month average of 13.2 million shares.

Now what: I wouldn't rush into Hecla just yet. Even with today's plunge, it's still up more than 100% over the past six months, and it trades at a lofty-ish 35-plus P/E. Of course, at the right price, Hecla is a low-debt, free-cash-flow-generating, well-managed inflation fighter that Fools should certainly consider.

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