VANCOUVER, BC, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Taseko Mines Limited (TSX:
TKO) (NYSE MKT: TGB) (LSE: TKO) ("Taseko" or the "Company") has
published its annual Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG")
Report, titled 'Sustainability: Our Low Carbon Future' (the
"Report"), highlighting Taseko's sustainability performance for
2020.
Stuart McDonald, Taseko's
President, commented, "2020 was a difficult year in many respects,
with lower copper prices earlier in the year and a world-wide
health pandemic at the forefront; but people, communities, and
companies rallied together and adapted. During this
challenging year, we continued to keep our employees safe and
working, while also meeting our commitments to the environment and
communities. I want to specifically acknowledge the work of
our employees whose dedication and commitment to success resulted
in an environmental reclamation award, Indigenous partnerships and
exceptional health and safety performance."
"Our Gibraltar Mine helped sustain economic strength in local
communities, and we also worked to advance other projects,
including our Florence Copper Project which will have one of the
smallest environmental footprints, and lowest carbon intensity, of
any copper mine in the world. It is an opportunity for copper
production with minimal environmental impacts, including: water
consumption that is fourteen times lower, carbon emissions six
times lower and energy consumption three times lower than a
conventional mining operation.
In this year's ESG report, Taseko has reported Scope 1 and
21 greenhouse gas emissions for the Gibraltar Mine
which show that the mine ranks in the first quartile of all copper
mines globally. When commercial operations at Florence Copper
commence, the Company's combined GHG emissions intensity will drop
even lower, to an estimated 1.53 tonnes of CO2e per
tonne of copper equivalent, based on an independent analysis by
Skarn Associates."
Taseko Mines' 2020 sustainability highlights
includes:
- Rigorous health and safety protocols enabled operations to
continue at the Gibraltar Mine in Williams Lake BC and at Florence Copper in
Arizona during the Covid-19
pandemic.
- Recognition from the British Columbia Technical and Research
Committee on Reclamation with the Jake
McDonald Award for outstanding work in mine reclamation and
Indigenous collaboration.
- Outstanding safety performance at Gibraltar Mine with zero loss
time incidents, zero days lost, zero loss time severity, and zero
loss time frequency.
- Continued commitment to a diverse workforce that reflects the
communities in which we operate. In 2020 28% of the new hires at
Taseko are female and 15%2 are Indigenous people.
- A priority on securing local goods and services with
C$116 million and US$2.5 million being distributed to local
suppliers from Gibraltar and
Florence Copper, respectively; C$72
million and US$2.1 million was
distributed in wages to local employees from Gibraltar and Florence Copper,
respectively.
- Low Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emission of 1.66 tonnes of
CO2e per tonnes of copper produced equivalent and 0.09
tonnes of CO2e per tonnes of copper equivalent produced,
respectively.
- Continued discussions with our Indigenous neighbours, that
included a Framework Agreement with a local Indigenous Nation to
begin discussions on the Yellowhead Project, as well as an
extension to the standstill agreement with Tŝilhqot'in Nation as
both parties seek a long-term solution to the conflict regarding
Taseko's proposed gold-copper mine currently known as New
Prosperity.
_____________________
|
1 Scope 1 emissions are direct
greenhouse (GHG) emissions that occur from sources that are
controlled or owned by an organization, such as diesel used in
vehicles. Scope 2 emissions are indirect GHG emissions associated
with the purchase of electricity, heat, or cooling.
|
2 A
percentage of Gibraltar new hires only
|
The full report can be viewed and downloaded at
tasekomines.com/esg/overview
Russell Hallbauer
Chief Executive Officer and Director
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the
information contained in this news release.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This document contains "forward-looking statements" that were
based on Taseko's expectations, estimates and projections as of the
dates as of which those statements were made. Generally, these
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "outlook", "anticipate",
"project", "target", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend",
"should" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's
actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to
be materially different from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These included but are not limited
to:
- uncertainties about the effect of COVID-19 and the response of
local, provincial, federal and international governments to the
threat of COVID-19 on our operations (including our suppliers,
customers, supply chain, employees and contractors) and economic
conditions generally and in particular with respect to the demand
for copper and other metals we produce;
- uncertainties and costs related to the Company's exploration
and development activities, such as those associated with
continuity of mineralization or determining whether mineral
resources or reserves exist on a property;
- uncertainties related to the accuracy of our estimates of
mineral reserves, mineral resources, production rates and timing of
production, future production and future cash and total costs of
production and milling;
- uncertainties related to feasibility studies that provide
estimates of expected or anticipated costs, expenditures and
economic returns from a mining project;
- uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary
licenses permits for development projects and project delays due to
third party opposition;
- uncertainties related to unexpected judicial or regulatory
proceedings;
- changes in, and the effects of, the laws, regulations and
government policies affecting our exploration and development
activities and mining operations, particularly laws, regulations
and policies;
- changes in general economic conditions, the financial markets
and in the demand and market price for copper, gold and other
minerals and commodities, such as diesel fuel, steel, concrete,
electricity and other forms of energy, mining equipment, and
fluctuations in exchange rates, particularly with respect to the
value of the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar, and the continued
availability of capital and financing;
- the effects of forward selling instruments to protect against
fluctuations in copper prices and exchange rate movements and the
risks of counterparty defaults, and mark to market risk;
- the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain
insurance to cover mining risks;
- the risk of loss of key employees; the risk of changes in
accounting policies and methods we use to report our financial
condition, including uncertainties associated with critical
accounting assumptions and estimates;
- environmental issues and liabilities associated with mining
including processing and stock piling ore; and
- labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or
difficulties in, the employment of labour in markets in which we
operate mines, or environmental hazards, industrial accidents or
other events or occurrences, including third party interference
that interrupt the production of minerals in our mines.
For further information on Taseko, investors should review the
Company's annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission www.sec.gov and home jurisdiction
filings that are available at www.sedar.com, including the "Risk
Factors" included in our Annual Information Form.
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SOURCE Taseko Mines Limited