{"id":560,"date":"2019-06-20T21:19:18","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T21:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/florencecopper.com\/?p=560"},"modified":"2024-03-07T16:59:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T16:59:16","slug":"taseko-submits-permit-amendment-application-and-achieves-commercial-grade-leach-solution-at-florence-copper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/florencecopper.com\/2019\/06\/20\/taseko-submits-permit-amendment-application-and-achieves-commercial-grade-leach-solution-at-florence-copper\/","title":{"rendered":"Taseko Submits Permit Amendment Application And Achieves Commercial Grade Leach Solution At Florence Copper"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 20, 2019, Vancouver, BC <\/strong>\u2013 Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE American: TGB) (\u201cTaseko\u201d or the \u201cCompany\u201d) is pleased to announce that it has submitted the Aquifer Protection Permit (\u201cAPP\u201d) amendment application to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (\u201cADEQ\u201d). The APP is one of two key permit amendments which are required for commercial production at the Company\u2019s Florence Copper Project. The permit amendment application for the Underground Injection Control Permit will be made to the US Environmental Protection Agency in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Russell Hallbauer, Chief Executive Officer of Taseko, commented, \u201cThis past week, after roughly six months of operating the test facility, the leach solution reached commercial grade levels, well in advance of our anticipated timeframe. Based on previous bench-scale testing, we expected it would take upwards of a year to reach target solution grade, so we are obviously extremely pleased to have achieved this milestone after such a short period of time. The grade of the leach solution coming from our main recovery well is approximately 1,600 parts per million of copper in solution and would be comparable to a typical open pit, low cost heap leach operation. The main difference between Florence Copper and other leach operations is that we have no mining costs associated with our in situ leach process, making Florence Copper when in commercial operation, one of the lowest cost operations globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main focus of the test facility, beyond ensuring we achieve all the technical targets of our feasibility study, will be building our on-the-ground operational experience to streamline the transition to commercial production. Based on the knowledge we have gained in the last six months, the benefits of the two phase approach (production test facility followed by the commercial facility) will significantly improve the ramp up of the final commercial scale operation,\u201d added Mr. Hallbauer.<\/p>\n

Stuart McDonald, President of Taseko, stated, \u201cFinancing for the commercial production facility is progressing with multiple options continuing to be pursued. We have initiated discussions with potential lenders and financing partners and we remain on track to have a plan formalized in the coming months. We now have the three key initiatives \u2013 technical, permitting and financing \u2013 all aligned for our project to be construction-ready in the first half of 2020. With cash costs of US$1.10 per pound and a C$1 billion net present value, Florence Copper will transform Taseko into a multi-asset, low cost copper producer in stable jurisdictions. We will continue to de- risk and steadily move the project towards production in 2021, increasing Taseko\u2019s attributable annual copper production to approximately 190 million pounds per year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Florence Copper NI 43-101 technical report is available on www.sedar.com <\/a>or the Company\u2019s website at www.tasekomines.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

For further information on Taseko, please visit the Taseko website at www.tasekomines.com <\/a>or contact: Brian Bergot, Vice President, Investor Relations – 778-373-4533 or toll free 1-877-441-4533<\/p>\n

Russell Hallbauer CEO<\/p>\n

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information contained in this news release.<\/p>\n

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

This document contains \u201cforward-looking statements\u201d within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, \u201cforward looking statements\u201d) that were based on Taseko\u2019s expectations, estimates and projections as of the dates as of which those statements were made. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, believes, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as \u201coutlook\u201d, \u201canticipate\u201d, \u201cproject\u201d, \u201ctarget\u201d, \u201cbelieve\u201d, \u201cestimate\u201d, \u201cexpect\u201d, \u201cintend\u201d, \u201cshould\u201d and similar expressions.<\/p>\n

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company\u2019s 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:<\/p>\n