Taseko MINES ANNOUNCES receipt of FINAL Permit FOR
THE FLORENCE
COPPER PROJECT
September 14, 2023, Vancouver,
BC – Taseko
Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE American: TGB; LSE: TKO) (“Taseko” or
the "Company") is pleased to announce that the US Environment
Protection Agency (“EPA”) has issued a final Underground Injection
Control Permit (“UIC”) for the Florence Copper Project (“Florence
Copper” or the “Project”).
Stuart McDonald, President and CEO of Taseko, commented,
“Receipt of this final permit is an exciting milestone for Taseko
and a testament to the project’s strong environmental attributes.
We now have one of a very few construction-ready, fully permitted
copper projects in North America.
With approvals in place from the Arizona Department of
Environmental Quality and now the EPA, we can commence construction
of the Florence Copper commercial production facility. This
achievement is a major stride forward and a result of Taseko’s
long-term approach to project development, environmental
protection, and community engagement.”
Mr.
McDonald continued, “With
procurement well advanced, the next steps will be mobilization of
contractors for the wellfield and SX/EW plant construction. We
continue to advance discussions with potential lenders and royalty
providers for the remainder of the project financing package and
expect to have additional commitments in place before construction
spending ramps up.”
When
commercial operations begin, Florence Copper will have an annual
production capacity of 85 million pounds of copper at US$1.11 per pound C1 cash costs over a 22-year
mine life. Based on a March 2023
Technical Report for the Project, which is supported by results
from the successful operation of a production test facility, the
Project has an after-tax NPV (8%) of US$930
million at a copper price of US$3.75 per pound.
“The
Florence Copper Project is one of the least capital-intensive
copper projects in the world and will have an environmental
footprint smaller than any conventional open-pit or underground
mining operation of comparable size. Low water use, low energy
consumption and low carbon emissions make Florence Copper an
exceptionally green project that will supply refined copper to the
rapidly growing US domestic market,” concluded Mr.
McDonald.
The
Florence Copper NI 43-101 technical report is available on
www.sedar.com or the Company’s website at
www.tasekomines.com. 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”.
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.