Taseko Mines Limited Taseko: Extends Undrawn RCF & Updates Hedging Program

 
TIDMTKO 
 
TASEKO EXTS TERM OF UNDRAWN REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY AND PROVIDES UPDATE ON 
                                HEDGING PROGRAM 
 
VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 2, 2023 /CNW/ - Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO) (NYSE 
American: TGB) (LSE: TKO) ("Taseko" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it 
has entered into an agreement to extend the maturity date of its US$50 million 
Revolving Credit Facility (the "Facility") by an additional year to July 2, 
2026.  The Facility, which is arranged and fully underwritten by National Bank 
of Canada ("National Bank"), is currently undrawn and available for general and 
working capital purposes. 
 
In addition to the one-year extension of the Facility, National Bank has also 
agreed to an accordion feature, which will allow the amount of the Facility to 
be increased by US$30 million, for a total of US$80 million, subject to credit 
approval and other conditions. 
 
The Company is also pleased to announce that it has recently extended both its 
copper price protection and diesel hedging programs. A zero-cost copper collar 
has been put in place for the second half of 2023 securing a minimum price of 
US$3.75 per pound and a ceiling of US$4.70 per pound, for most of Taseko's 
share of Gibraltar production. This new contract extends the existing copper 
price collars that are in place to protect a minimum price of US$3.75 per pound 
for the first half of 2023. Taseko's diesel hedging program has also been 
extended through the purchase of additional diesel call options to the end of 
2023, shielding operating costs from further increases in diesel prices. 
 
Stuart McDonald, President & CEO of Taseko, stated, "Taseko has a long-standing 
copper price protection strategy that ensures we receive a minimum price for a 
portion of Gibraltar copper production. This conservative approach to managing 
price risk has served us well in the past, and last year we received C$23 
million of cash proceeds from copper collars. We expect to commence 
construction at our Florence Copper Project this year, upon receipt of the 
final Underground Injection Control Permit, and the extended Facility and 
copper hedging program are key elements of the financing plan." 
 
About the Revolving Credit Facility 
 
After giving effect to the one-year extension described herein, the Facility 
has a tenor of 42 months and matures in July 2026 and is extendable annually 
thereafter. The Facility is secured by a first lien charge against Taseko's 
rights under the Gibraltar Joint Venture as well as its shares of Gibraltar 
Mines Ltd., Curis Holdings (Canada) Ltd. and Florence Holdings Inc. The 
Facility includes financial and other covenants commensurate with a corporate 
revolving credit facility of this nature. The one-year extension and other 
amendments to the Facility described herein are subject to the satisfaction of 
certain customary conditions precedent. 
 
Stuart McDonald 
President and CEO 
 
    No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information 
                        contained in this news release. 
 
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION 
 
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: 
 
  * uncertainties about the future market price of copper and the other metals 
    that we produce or may seek to produce; 
  * changes in general economic conditions, the financial markets, inflation 
    and interest rates and in the demand and market price for our input costs, 
    such as diesel fuel, reagents, steel, concrete, electricity and other forms 
    of energy, mining equipment, and fluctuations in exchange rates, 
    particularly with respect to the value of the U.S. dollar and Canadian 
    dollar, and the continued availability of capital and financing; 
  * uncertainties resulting from the war in Ukraine, and the accompanying 
    international response including economic sanctions levied against Russia, 
    which has disrupted the global economy, created increased volatility in 
    commodity markets (including oil and gas prices), and disrupted 
    international trade and financial markets, all of which have an ongoing and 
    uncertain effect on global economics, supply chains, availability of 
    materials and equipment and execution timelines for project development; 
  * uncertainties about the continuing impact of the novel coronavirus 
    ("COVID-19") and the response of local, provincial, state, federal and 
    international governments to the ongoing threat of COVID-19, on our 
    operations (including our suppliers, customers, supply chains, employees 
    and contractors) and economic conditions generally including rising 
    inflation levels and in particular with respect to the demand for copper 
    and other metals we produce; 
  * inherent risks associated with mining operations, including our current 
    mining operations at Gibraltar, and their potential impact on our ability 
    to achieve our production estimates; 
  * uncertainties as to our ability to control our operating costs, including 
    inflationary cost pressures at Gibraltar without impacting our planned 
    copper production; 
  * the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover 
    material mining or operational risks; 
  * uncertainties related to the feasibility study for Florence copper project 
    (the "Florence Copper Project" or "Florence Copper") that provides 
    estimates of expected or anticipated capital and operating costs, 
    expenditures and economic returns from this mining project, including the 
    impact of inflation on the estimated costs related to the construction of 
    the Florence Copper Project and our other development projects; 
  * the risk that the results from our operations of the Florence Copper 
    production test facility ("PTF") and ongoing engineering work including 
    updated capital and operating costs will negatively impact our estimates 
    for current projected economics for commercial operations at Florence 
    Copper; 
  * uncertainties related to the accuracy of our estimates of Mineral Reserves 
    (as defined below), Mineral Resources (as defined below), production rates 
    and timing of production, future production and future cash and total costs 
    of production and milling; 
  * the risk that we may not be able to expand or replace reserves as our 
    existing mineral reserves are mined; 
  * the availability of, and uncertainties relating to the development of, 
    additional financing and infrastructure necessary for the advancement of 
    our development projects, including with respect to our ability to obtain 
    any remaining construction financing potentially needed to move forward 
    with commercial operations at Florence Copper; 
  * our ability to comply with the extensive governmental regulation to which 
    our business is subject; 
  * uncertainties related to our ability to obtain necessary title, licenses 
    and permits for our development projects and project delays due to third 
    party opposition, particularly in respect to Florence Copper that requires 
    one key regulatory permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
    ("EPA") in order to advance to commercial operations; 
  * our ability to deploy strategic capital and award key contracts to assist 
    with protecting the Florence Copper project execution plan, mitigating 
    inflation risk and the potential impact of supply chain disruptions on our 
    construction schedule and ensuring a smooth transition into construction 
    once the final permit is received from the EPA; 
  * uncertainties related to First Nations claims and consultation issues; 
  * our reliance on rail transportation and port terminals for shipping our 
    copper concentrate production from Gibraltar; 
  * uncertainties related to unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings; 
  * changes in, and the effects of, the laws, regulations and government 
    policies affecting our exploration and development activities and mining 
    operations and mine closure and bonding requirements; 
  * our dependence solely on our 75% interest in Gibraltar (as defined below) 
    for revenues and operating cashflows; 
  * our ability to collect payments from customers, extend existing concentrate 
    off-take agreements or enter into new agreements; 
  * environmental issues and liabilities associated with mining including 
    processing and stock piling ore; 
  * labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or difficulties 
    in, the employment of labour in markets in which we operate our mine, 
    industrial accidents, equipment failure or other events or occurrences, 
    including third party interference that interrupt the production of 
    minerals in our mine; 
  * environmental hazards and risks associated with climate change, including 
    the potential for damage to infrastructure and stoppages of operations due 
    to forest fires, flooding, drought, or other natural events in the vicinity 
    of our operations; 
  * litigation risks and the inherent uncertainty of litigation, including 
    litigation to which Florence Copper could be subject to; 
  * our actual costs of reclamation and mine closure may exceed our current 
    estimates of these liabilities; 
  * our ability to meet the financial reclamation security requirements for the 
    Gibraltar mine and Florence Project; 

  * the capital intensive nature of our business both to sustain current mining 
    operations and to develop any new projects, including Florence Copper; 
  * our reliance upon key management and operating personnel; 
  * the competitive environment in which we operate; 
  * the effects of forward selling instruments to protect against fluctuations 
    in copper prices, foreign exchange, interest rates or input costs such as 
    fuel; 
  * the risk of changes in accounting policies and methods we use to report our 
    financial condition, including uncertainties associated with critical 
    accounting assumptions and estimates; and Management Discussion and 
    Analysis ("MD&A"), quarterly reports and material change reports filed with 
    and furnaished to securities regulators, and those risks which are 
    discussed under the heading "Risk Factors". 
 
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, 
including the "Risk Factors" included in our Annual Information Form. 
 
on Taseko, see the Company's website at www.tasekomines.com or contact: Brian 
Bergot, Vice President, Investor Relations, 778-373-4533 or toll free 
1-877-441-4533 
 
 
 
END 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2023 08:30 ET (13:30 GMT)