January 7, 2013
January 7, 2013, Vancouver, BC - Taseko (TSX: TKO; NYSE MKT: TGB) (the “Company”) announces 2012 fourth quarter total sales of 23.4 million pounds of copper and 215,000 pounds of molybdenum at its 75% owned Gibraltar Mine. For the full year of 2012, sales were 88.0 million pounds of copper and 1.3 million pounds of molybdenum.
Total production for the quarter was 21.4 million pounds of copper and 223,000 pounds of molybdenum. For 2012, total production was 89.8 million pounds of copper and 1.3 million pounds of molybdenum.
Taseko’s 75% share of fourth quarter sales was 17.6 million pounds of copper and 161,000 pounds of molybdenum which compares to 16.1 million and 209,000 pounds in the third quarter.
Mill throughput of 8.5 million tons in the second half of 2012 was mainly affected by downtime associated with GDP3 construction activities and tie-ins. This resulted in average mill availability of 88% for the period, compared to a normalized level of 93%.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko, commented, “Taking into account mill availability, the mill continued to operate close to design capacity in the fourth quarter. We expect mill availability to steadily increase with GDP3 construction behind us. As we announced in mid- December, GDP3 commissioning continues to progress as we work towards commercial production by the end of March.”
Note: Gibraltar is a Joint Venture owned by Taseko Mines Limited (75%) and Cariboo Copper Corp. (25%). All production and sales figures are reported on a 100% basis, unless otherwise noted.
For further information on Taseko, please see the Company’s website www.tasekomines.com or contact:
Brian Bergot, Director, Investor Relations - 778-373-4533 or toll free 1-877-441-4533
Russell Hallbauer
President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information contained in this news release.
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:
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.