November 12, 2009, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines Limited
(TSX: TKO; NYSE Amex: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company")
announces the results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009.
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.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2009, the Company reports an operating
profit of $9.4 million and earnings before tax and other items of $4.7 million,
compared to an operating profit of $5.2 million and a loss before tax and
other items of $1.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2008.
Other items include unrealized (non cash) loss attributable to derivative
instruments. For nine months ended September 30, 2009, the operating profit
was $32.7 million and earnings before tax and other items were $24.0 million,
compared to an operating profit of $49.3 million and earnings before tax and
other items of $29.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2008.
Revenue was $40.1 million from the sale of 12.7 million pounds of copper and
149,000 pounds of molybdenum at an average realized price of US$2.65 per pound
for copper and US$12.37 per pound for molybdenum.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko commented, "Taseko ended
the third quarter in excellent financial shape, with over $40 million in cash
on hand. The US$20 million added to our debt facility, which was funded in
September, will provide the required cash to complete Gibraltar expansion
plans.
The newly installed tower regrind mill is being integrated into the concentrator
circuit and the Gibraltar operations team is making steady progress on its
optimization. Construction continues on the remaining projects which will
increase Gibraltar production capacity to 115 million pounds of copper per
year.We expect to increase the ore crushing capacity by mid-2010 with the
completion of the new in-pit crusher and overland conveyor system. To better
optimize the Semi-Autogenous Grinding ("SAG") mill performance,
design is underway to bypass the current stockpile feed system, eliminating
the expensive secondary crushing system. We expect to start construction in
the spring of 2010."
Mr. Hallbauer continued, "In regards to the Prosperity project, the reserve
increase just announced1 affirms the inherent value and importance
of the project to all Taseko stakeholders. With 7.7 million ounces of recoverable
gold and 3.6 billion pounds of recoverable copper, Prosperity has the largest
gold reserve of any mining project in Canada and will be one of the largest
mines built in the last decade.
The Environmental Review of our Prosperity Project is very close to completion.
We remain extremely confident that the Environmental Assessment Office will
not find any obvious encumbrances with the project and that the Provincial
government will make their decision early in 2010. The Federal government
review process also continues and the Panel will hold public hearings as early
as mid-January. Following conclusion of the hearings, the Panel has 45 days
to submit their findings to the Federal Minister of Environment for a decision."
Highlights
Gibraltar Production and Sales
•
Year to date production to September 30, 2009 was 53 million pounds of copper
and 516,000 pounds of molybdenum, 21 percent and 39 percent higher than the
same period in 2008, respectively.
• In the
nine months ended September 30, 2009, copper in concentrate sales were 49.8
million pounds and 1.6 million pounds of copper cathode was sold. Molybdenum
in concentrate sales was 595,000 pounds.
The following table is a summary of operating statistics:
3
months ended September 30, 2009 |
9
months ended September 30, 2009 |
|
Total tons mined (millions) |
8.7 |
23.5 |
Tons of ore milled (millions) |
3.3 |
9.8 |
Stripping ratio |
2.8 |
1.6 |
Copper grade (%) |
0.26 |
0.32 |
Molybdenum grade (%Mo) |
0.011 |
0.011 |
Copper recovery (%) |
79.1 |
81.7 |
Molybdenum recovery (%) |
15.5 |
25.5 |
Copper production (millions lb) |
14.0 |
53.0 |
Molybdenum production (thousands lb) |
112 |
516 |
Copper production costs, net of by-product credits, per lb of copper1 |
US$1.56 |
US$1.08 |
Off property costs for transport, treatment (smelting & refining) & sales per lb of copper |
US$0.30 |
US$0.30 |
Total cash costs of production per lb of copper |
US$1.86 |
US$1.38 |
Notes
to table: 1 By-product credit is based on pounds of molybdenum and ounces of silver sold. |
Prosperity Project1 November 2009 Mineral Reserves at C$5.50 NSR/t Cut-Off1 |
|||||||||
Category |
Size M tonnes |
Grade |
Recoverable
Metal |
Contained
Metal |
|||||
Au (g/t) |
Cu (%) |
Au (M oz) |
Cu (B lbs) |
Au |
Cu (B lbs) |
||||
Proven |
481 |
0.46 |
0.26 |
5.0 |
2.4 |
7.1 |
2.8 |
||
Probable |
350 |
0.35 |
0.18 |
2.7 |
1.2 |
3.9 |
1.4 |
||
Total |
831 |
0.41 |
0.23 |
7.7 |
3.6 |
11.0 |
4.2 |
||
Note: Recoveries for Cu and Au are 87% and 69% respectively | |||||||||
Taseko
will host a conference call on Friday, November 13, 2009 at 11:00
a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Pacific) to discuss these results. The
conference call may be accessed by dialing (888) 523-1225, or (719)
785-1759 internationally. A live and archived audio webcast will also
be available at www.tasekomines.com. The conference call will be archived for later playback until November 20, 2009 and can be accessed by dialing (888) 203-1112 in Canada and the United States, or (719) 457-0820 internationally and using the passcode 5290249. |