June 26, 2008
June 26, 2008, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; AMEX: TGB) (“Taseko” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has finalized negotiations for the purchase of the key mining and milling equipment required for the Phase III expansion at its 100% owned Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine.
The Company has entered into binding agreements to purchase two Bucyrus 495 mining shovels, a Bucyrus 49R production drill, four 240 ton Terex haulage trucks and a 28-foot semi autogeneous grinding (“SAG”) mill, which is of sufficient size to process an additional 30,000 tons of Gibraltar ore per day.
The mining equipment is scheduled to be delivered and operational as follows: The trucks in late 2008, one shovel and drill in the spring of 2009, and the second shovel in late 2009. The SAG mill and motors will arrive at the Gibraltar site in May of 2010 for commissioning by August 2010.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko stated, “We are very pleased to have completed these transactions. Bucyrus committed to an early delivery schedule for the shovels and drill, which will allow us to properly sequence mine development prior to the commissioning of the additional concentrator capacity in 2010. Delivery times for both mining and milling equipment continues to be a problem for many mine developers and this is having a dramatic affect on project time lines and completion dates. With these purchases, we have eliminated any such delays. Since the Phase III expansion requires a relatively small SAG mill, delivery time has been reduced to 20 months from the industry average of 40 months.
The expedited delivery schedule will ensure Gibraltar’s production capacity will be increased to 85,000 tons per day by the fourth quarter of 2010, allowing us to capitalize on forecasted high copper prices.”
Mr. Hallbauer continued, “A key component to the Phase III expansion is a $20 million upgrade to the molybdenum circuit, which is expected to be operational by the summer of 2009. With the upgraded molybdenum circuit, significantly better performance will be achieved, with average molybdenum production increasing to 3.5 million pounds annually.”
For further details on Taseko and its properties, please visit the Company’s website at www.tasekomines.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 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.