October 7, 2009
October 7, 2009, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines Limited (“Taseko” or the “Company”) (TSX: TKO; NYSE Amex: TGB) reports third quarter 2009 production results for its Gibraltar Mine.
For the third quarter of 2009, the Gibraltar Mine produced 14 million pounds of copper and 112 thousand pounds of molybdenum.
Metal production in the quarter was affected by a geotechnical problem, related to surface soil instability at the edge of the Granite Pit, which occurred in mid-July. As a result, mining operations had to deviate from the mine plan for the balance of the third quarter. Subsequently, ore release could only be achieved from mining faces that were significantly below the Granite Pit average grade. Normally, lower grade ore would be mined in conjunction with higher grade ore to maintain the pit average grade. Additionally, the lower grade ore resulted in decreased metal recoveries that negatively affected production. The combination of lower grade and lower metal recoveries reduced metal production by approximately four million pounds of copper and 100 thousand pounds of molybdenum for the third quarter.
The geotechnical issue has been resolved and Gibraltar mine operations re-established mining faces during August and September allowing a return to mine plan grade in October.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko commented, “After four consecutive quarters of strong production performance, this geotechnical issue is an unfortunate setback for the mine. However, the mine operations team effectively managed the deviation from the mine plan and the mine and mill have now returned to normal operating conditions.”
In August, as reported during Taseko’s second quarter results conference call, the decision was made to begin increasing waste stripping towards the deposit average, a full year ahead of the schedule laid out in late 2008. The increase is in anticipation of daily concentrator throughput growing to 55,000 tons per day now that expansion activities are again underway. Copper price strength is allowing the Company to invest in waste stripping while maintaining healthy operating margins.
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
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.