800
West Pender Street, Suite 1020
Vancouver , British Columbia
Canada V6C 2V6
TASEKO COMPLETES GIBRALTAR
MINE JOINT VENTURE
WITH JAPANESE CONSORTIUM
April 1, 2010, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines
Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE Amex: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company")
wishes to announce that the previously disclosed transaction to sell 25%
of the Gibraltar Copper Mine to a Japanese Consortium (Sojitz Corporation
- 50%, Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd. - 25%, Furukawa Co., Ltd.
- 25%) for approximately C$187 million closed on March 31, 2010. Taseko
will continue to be the operator of Gibraltar. A portion of these proceeds
has been used to prepay Taseko's US$50 million long-term Credit Facility
provided by Credit Suisse and Investec.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko commented, "I am very
pleased to be entering into this long-term relationship with world-class
partners - Sojitz, Dowa and Furukawa. Additionally, our favourable debt
free balance sheet today will maximize our cash flow from Gibraltar, particularly
in the current copper pricing environment. After the repayment of our credit
facility, cash on hand today is approximately C$190 million. This cash secures
a significant portion of the required capital to fund the construction of
our wholly-owned Prosperity Gold-Copper Project."
For further information on Taseko, please see the Company's website
www.tasekomines.com or contact: Brian Bergot, Investor Relations - 778-373-4545,
Toll Free 1-800-667-2114.
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information contained
in this news 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 intended future agreements, 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 40-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
or the Company's home jurisdiction filings at www.sedar.com.