TASEKO MINES PROVIDES FINANCING UPDATE FOR
FLORENCE
COPPER
VANCOUVER,
BC, July 14, 2023 Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO)
(NYSE American: TGB) (LSE: TKO) ("Taseko" or the "Company") is
pleased to provide an update on a number of recent financing
initiatives.
On June 30, Taseko's
corporate revolving credit facility was increased from US$50 million to US$80
million. The accordion feature, which was added and
announced in January, was fully underwritten and credit approved by
ING Capital LLC who joins alongside the existing lender, National
Bank. The corporate facility is available for general
corporate purposes, including to support the capital needs of the
Florence Copper project. The credit facility matures in
July 2026 and is secured by first
liens against Taseko's rights under the Gibraltar joint venture as well as the shares
of Gibraltar Mines Ltd., Curis Holdings (Canada) Ltd., and Florence Holdings Inc. and
contains customary covenants for a facility of this
nature.
Also in late June, the Company closed an additional
silver stream sale to Osisko Gold Royalties ("Osisko") for
US$10.25 million for its incremental
12.5% share of Gibraltar Mine that Taseko purchased in March of
this year from Sojitz Corporation. Taseko also extended the silver
delivery threshold to coincide with the Company's recently updated
mineral reserve
estimate.
Stuart McDonald,
President & CEO of Taseko, stated, "The permitting process at
Florence Copper is nearing an end and as we prepare for
construction our focus is to ensure we have a strong balance sheet
and a solid financing plan in place. We continue to evaluate
construction financing proposals which will complement our current
liquidity and the two transactions previously announced with Mitsui
(US$50 million) and Bank of America
(US$25 million). We have recently
engaged Endeavour Financial to assist in executing on these
financing initiatives and are confident that we can close the
transactions needed to provide the capital for construction of the
Florence Copper commercial production
facility.
We have not issued any shares to-date under the
US$50 million At-The-Market equity
facility announced in May. This facility is an alternative
financing option for Taseko but with no obligation for us to
use."
For further information on Taseko, see the Company's
website at www.tasekomines.com or
contact:
Brian Bergot, Vice
President, Investor Relations - 778-373-4533 or toll free
1-877-441-4533
Stuart McDonald
President and CEO
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 future market price of copper
and the other metals that we produce or may seek to
produce;
-
changes in general economic conditions, the financial
markets, inflation and interest rates and in the demand and market
price for our input costs, such as diesel fuel, reagents, 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;
-
uncertainties resulting from the war in Ukraine, and the accompanying international
response including economic sanctions levied against Russia, which has disrupted the global
economy, created increased volatility in commodity markets
(including oil and gas prices), and disrupted international trade
and financial markets, all of which have an ongoing and uncertain
effect on global economics, supply chains, availability of
materials and equipment and execution timelines for project
development;
-
uncertainties about the continuing impact of the
novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") and the response of local,
provincial, state, federal and international governments to the
ongoing threat of COVID-19, on our operations (including our
suppliers, customers, supply chains, employees and contractors) and
economic conditions generally including rising inflation levels and
in particular with respect to the demand for copper and other
metals we
produce;
-
inherent risks associated with mining operations,
including our current mining operations at Gibraltar, and their potential impact on our
ability to achieve our production
estimates;
-
uncertainties as to our ability to control our
operating costs, including inflationary cost pressures at
Gibraltar without impacting our
planned copper
production;
-
the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to
obtain insurance to cover material mining or operational
risks;
-
uncertainties related to the feasibility study for
Florence copper project (the
"Florence Copper Project" or "Florence Copper") that provides
estimates of expected or anticipated capital and operating costs,
expenditures and economic returns from this mining project,
including the impact of inflation on the estimated costs related to
the construction of the Florence Copper Project and our other
development
projects;
-
the risk that the results from our operations of the
Florence Copper production test facility ("PTF") and ongoing
engineering work including updated capital and operating costs will
negatively impact our estimates for current projected economics for
commercial operations at Florence
Copper;
-
uncertainties related to the accuracy of our
estimates of Mineral Reserves (as defined below), Mineral Resources
(as defined below), production rates and timing of production,
future production and future cash and total costs of production and
milling;
-
the risk that we may not be able to expand or replace
reserves as our existing mineral reserves are
mined;
-
the availability of, and uncertainties relating to
the development of, additional financing and infrastructure
necessary for the advancement of our development projects,
including with respect to our ability to obtain any remaining
construction financing potentially needed to move forward with
commercial operations at Florence
Copper;
-
our ability to comply with the extensive governmental
regulation to which our business is
subject;
-
uncertainties related to our ability to obtain
necessary title, licenses and permits for our development projects
and project delays due to third party opposition, particularly in
respect to Florence Copper that requires one key regulatory permit
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") in order to
advance to commercial
operations;
-
our ability to deploy strategic capital and award key
contracts to assist with protecting the Florence Copper project
execution plan, mitigating inflation risk and the potential impact
of supply chain disruptions on our construction schedule and
ensuring a smooth transition into construction once the final
permit is received from the
EPA;
-
uncertainties related to First Nations claims and
consultation
issues;
-
our reliance on rail transportation and port
terminals for shipping our copper concentrate production from
Gibraltar;
-
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 and mine closure and bonding
requirements;
-
our dependence solely on our 75% interest in
Gibraltar (as defined below) for
revenues and operating
cashflows;
-
our ability to collect payments from customers,
extend existing concentrate off-take agreements or enter into new
agreements;
-
environmental issues and liabilities associated with
mining including processing and stock piling
ore;
-
labour strikes, work stoppages, or other
interruptions to, or difficulties in, the employment of labour in
markets in which we operate our mine, industrial accidents,
equipment failure or other events or occurrences, including third
party interference that interrupt the production of minerals in our
mine;
-
environmental hazards and risks associated with
climate change, including the potential for damage to
infrastructure and stoppages of operations due to forest fires,
flooding, drought, or other natural events in the vicinity of our
operations;
-
litigation risks and the inherent uncertainty of
litigation, including litigation to which Florence Copper could be
subject
to;
-
our actual costs of reclamation and mine closure may
exceed our current estimates of these
liabilities;
-
our ability to meet the financial reclamation
security requirements for the Gibraltar mine and Florence
Project;
-
the capital intensive nature of our business both to
sustain current mining operations and to develop any new projects,
including Florence
Copper;
-
our reliance upon key management and operating
personnel;
-
the competitive environment in which we
operate;
-
the effects of forward selling instruments to protect
against fluctuations in copper prices, foreign exchange, interest
rates or input costs such as
fuel;
-
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; and Management Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A"),
quarterly reports and material change reports filed with and
furnished to securities regulators, and those risks which are
discussed under the heading "Risk
Factors".
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.