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WILLIAMS LAKE – Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO) (NYSE American: TGB) (LSE: TKO) announces 2022 copper sales of 101 million pounds and production of 97 million pounds from the Gibraltar Mine. Fourth quarter copper sales were 26 million pounds and production was 27 million pounds.
Stuart McDonald, President and CEO of Taseko, stated, “Mill throughput in October and November averaged above design capacity, but production in December was impacted by unplanned mill downtime, including a sitewide power outage late in the month. Although the power outage was only 24 hours in duration, the severe cold temperatures of -35° Celsius (-31° Fahrenheit) immediately froze a number of essential systems in the mills, which delayed the restart of milling operations for several days. Our operations personnel did a good job to safely return milling operations to full capacity by the end of the month, with no damage to any critical systems. However, mill throughput averaged only 63,000 tons per day in December, compared to 88,000 tons per day in October and November. Copper recoveries in the fourth quarter were 82 per cent, an improvement over the prior quarters in 2022.”
“Molybdenum production of 360 thousand pounds in the fourth quarter was the best quarter in 2022. Robust molybdenum pricing, increasing by nearly 75 per cent to over US$30 per pound at year-end, is expected to drive a strong by-product credit in the quarters ahead,” added Mr. McDonald.
“Mining operations have advanced deeper into the Gibraltar pit and were largely unaffected by this recent severe winter weather and power outage. Copper grades in the fourth quarter were similar to the third quarter due to the continued impact of higher mining dilution. We are advancing a number of initiatives to reduce the above normal mining dilution that we have been experiencing in the Gibraltar pit. With milling operations stabilized, we expect improved production in the first quarter and a more consistent quarterly production profile through 2023,” concluded Mr. McDonald.
Taseko’s 75 per cent owned Gibraltar Mine is located north of Williams Lake in south-central British Columbia. Production and sales volumes stated in this release are on a 100 per cent basis.
Taseko is focused on the operation and development of copper mines in North America. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Taseko is the owner (75 per cent) and operator of the Gibraltar Mine, the second largest open pit copper mine in Canada.
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