UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
CIK # 878518
as at November 6, 2008
TASEKO MINES LIMITED
800 West Pender Street, Suite 1020
Vancouver , British Columbia
Canada V6C 2V6
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F...X.... Form 40-F.........
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ____
Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper
of a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to
security holders.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ____
Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in
this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to
the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934.
Yes ..... No .....
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to
the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- ________
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
By: /s/ Russell E. Hallbauer
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Date: November 7, 2008
Print the name and title of the signing officer under his signature.
1020 - 800 W Pender
St.
Vancouver BC
Canada V6C 2V6
Tel 604 684 - 6365
Fax 604 684 - 8092
Toll Free 1 800 667 - 2114
http://www.tasekomines.com
TASEKO ANNOUNCES FINANCIAL RESULTS
FOR TWELVE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
November 6, 2008, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines
Limited (TSX: TKO; AMEX: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company")
reports the results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2008. This release
should be read with the Company's Financial Statements and Management
Discussion & Analysis, available at www.tasekomines.com and filed on www.sedar.com.
Currency is Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.
The Company reported an operating profit of $68.5 million and net earnings
of $43.2 million or $0.31 per share. Sales for the period were 59.1 million
pounds of copper at an average realized price of US$3.42 and 661,000 pounds
of molybdenum at an average price of US$33.04 per pound.
A summary of the key results in the twelve months in fiscal 2008 compared
to the same period in the prior year are:
|
12
months ended September 30, 2008 |
12
months ended September 30, 2007 |
Revenue | $221.1
million |
$218.4
million |
Copper1 | $200.4
million |
$199.8
million |
Molybdenum | $20.7
million |
$18.6
million |
Cash Flow2 | $74.0
million |
$86.0
million |
Cash Flow per Share (basic) | $0.52 |
$0.67 |
Operating Profit3 | $68.5
million |
$105.7
million |
Earnings before income tax | $44.9
million |
$87.9
million |
Earnings (after tax) | $43.2
million |
$48.3
million |
Earnings per share (basic) | $0.31 |
$0.37 |
1
Copper revenue in 2008 includes proceeds from sales of copper concentrate
and copper cathode.
2 Cash
flow and cash flow per share are numbers used by the Company to assess its
performance. They are not terms recognized under generally accepted accounting
principles. Cash flow is defined as cash flow from operations including net
change in working capital balances and cash flow per share is the same measure
divided by the number of common shares outstanding during the period.
3 Operating
profit is comprised of revenues less cost of sales and depletion, depreciation
and amortization.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko commented, "Our 59 million
pounds of copper production is a 12% increase over that achieved in the
same 12-month period in 2007, with 31% of our metal production for the year
coming in the last three months as the Gibraltar concentrator began to produce
at 42,000 tons per day. Margins decreased during the last half of the year
as we were faced with a strong Canadian dollar, higher input costs and increasing
operating expenses related to preparations for accelerated mining rates.
The increase in concentrator throughput in the past few months and the resultant
7.8 million pounds of copper produced in September has had a dramatic effect
on production costs, which were US$1.30/lb during the month. It is important
to note that in September the Canadian dollar was at $0.94 per US dollar,
and operations continued to experience high input costs for fuel, grinding
media, explosives and reagents. These input costs, along with value of the
Canadian dollar, have dropped even more dramatically in the last five weeks,
and our operating costs continue to decrease on a month over month basis."
Mr. Hallbauer continued, "A thorough review of Gibraltar's operating
costs has been undertaken during the past six weeks. Gibraltar engineering
staff has optimized Gibraltar's mine plan in light of the current copper
price retrenchment, which will reduce mining and milling costs by US$0.40/lb.
The weakening of the Canadian dollar, along with the significant decrease
in shipping and other off-property costs, is expected to further reduce
our total cost of production in the coming months by another US$0.40/lb.
When we began construction on our mill expansions twenty months ago, we
knew that modernization and development of Gibraltar's mining and milling
facilities was the most important value-creating opportunity that we could
provide for our shareholders. The premise of our business plan has been
to ensure that Gibraltar will continue to generate cash flow and earnings
at the bottom of the metal price cycle, which we felt would be approximately
US$1.50/lb. In 2005, when copper averaged US$1.65/lb, our total site and
off-site cost were US$1.15/lb. With the trend of input costs indicating
a decrease to 2005 levels, in combination with our optimization plans, cost
review and a nearly 50% expansion in copper production, we expect to achieve
an operating cost structure consistent with or lower than what we achieved
in 2005. The September results give a clear indication of our decreasing
cost profile. With our Phase I expansion now complete, Phase II within months
of completion and our immediate capital spending program winding down, we
are positioned to weather these tumultuous times in the metal markets and
come out of it a stronger and more productive company."
Recent Highlights
Gibraltar Mine
° 129 holes, totalling approximately
114,000 feet were drilled in and around the Gibraltar East Pit area. Geological
modeling and engineering of the incoming data is ongoing and new mineral
reserve estimates are expected in the next few weeks.
° Construction of the Phase II expansion,
required to increase mill production capacity to 55,000 tons per day, is
scheduled to be completed on budget by February 2009.
° Phase III mill expansion engineering
has confirmed earlier capital cost and scheduling estimates.
° An engineering and construction schedule
for the new molybdenum plant was finalized and dependent on market conditions,
a decision will be made regarding moving forward with the project.
Prosperity Project
° In October 2008, the Canadian Environmental
Assessment Agency and the BC Environmental Assessment Office issued a joint
letter detailing how the provincial and federal processes will proceed in
a coordinated manner. The coordinated process is currently underway and
scheduled for completion in October 2009. Federal and provincial government
decisions on the acceptability of the Project will be made following completion
of the coordinated process.
° Detailed engineering was performed on
machinery and infrastructure that requires securing long-lead delivery items.
This work mitigates the impact of rapidly escalating capital costs being
seen in other projects, worldwide.
° As a result of the changes that came
from this engineering work, capital cost increases are well below those
that would have been incurred on the basis of the 2007 design and are within
the range of previously reported sensitivity analysis.
° The revised designs improve energy and
operational efficiency in order to improve operating costs.
° The mine plan was re-done in order to
achieve a much more operationally efficient pit that will minimize operating
costs while maintaining the revenue profile.
Gibraltar Quarterly Operating Costs
Total tons mined in the twelve-month period ending September 30, 2008 increased
by 7.8 million tons or 22% compared to 2007 and ore processed by 9% over
twelve months in fiscal 2007, resulting in a 10% increase in metal production
to 58.1 million pounds. The added material mined, combined with longer ore
haul distances from the Granite pit, resulted in increased costs associated
with truck hours at a time when diesel fuel and other mining costs escalated
by 100% over the year. The combination of this with additional cost for
stripping resulted in an overall increase in the cost per ton mined.
Tons milled increased as the new Semi Autogenous Grinding (SAG) mill performance
improved dramatically in August and September, but this did not offset the
surge in input costs during the year. However, site cash costs were reduced
to US$1.30/lb in September as metal production increased to 7.8 million
pounds.
Taseko will host a conference call on Friday, November 7, 2008
at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Pacific) to discuss these
results. The conference call may be accessed by dialing 877 719-9786,
or 719 325-4796 internationally. A live and archived audio webcast
will also be available at www.tasekomines.com. |
For further details on Taseko and its properties, please visit the Company's
website at www.tasekomines.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365
or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.
Russell Hallbauer
President and CEO
No regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy
of this release.
Forward
Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking
statements". All statements in this release, other than statements
of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential,
exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments
that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include
capital market conditions, commodities market prices, exploitation and exploration
successes, lack of continuity of mineralization, completion of the mill
upgrade on time estimated and at scheduled cost, continued availability
of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.
Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially
from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information
on the Company, Investors should review the Company's annual Form 20-F
filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or the
Company's home jurisdiction filings at www.sedar.com.