Taseko Mines

Taseko Mines Limited
Company type	Public
Traded as	TSX: TKO; AMEX: TGB
Industry	Copper and Gold, Niobium
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Key people	Mr. Stuart McDonald, Teseko's President & CEO
Products	Copper, Gold,Niobium, and molybdenum
Revenue	$218.07 million USD (2007)
Operating income	$56.98 million USD (2007)
Net income	$56.98 million USD (2007)
Number of employees	514 (2010)
Website	www.tasekomines.com

Taseko Mines Limited is a mid-tier copper producer located in British Columbia, Canada. It operates Gibraltar Mine, the second largest open-pit copper mine in Canada, and is in the planning stages for several other mines including the Prosperity Mine, Harmony, and Aley. All production is sold at non-hedged market based prices. The market capitalization currently is roughly 740 million dollars.

Company history

1991 - Prosperity project acquired
July 1999 - Gibraltar acquired from Boliden
2002 - Harmony acquired
2004 - Gibraltar reopened due to high copper prices
2007 - Aley acquired

Proposed Projects

Prosperity Mine

The property includes 85 square km in south central British Columbia. A large copper and gold mineralization has been defined on the property containing around 5.3 billion lb copper and 13.3 million oz of gold. The feasibility for the mine was completed on September 25, 2007 and the environmental review process began in July 2008.

Operations: Large open-pit copper and gold mine with projected production of 108 million lb per year and 247,000 oz of gold per year for 20 years.

Reserves

Cost: ~800 million^{[clarification needed]}

In 2009, proven reserves for the mine were 481 million tonnes 0.46 gram per tonne of gold and 0.26 per cent copper. Probable reserves were estimated at 350 million tonnes grading 0.35 gram per tonne of gold and 0.18 per cent of copper (based on a $5.50 net smelter return cut-off).^[2]

Timeline

1991 - acquired by Taseko Mines
Sep 25, 2007 - feasibility study completed for 70,000 tonnes per day with 20 year mine life
July 2008 - Environmental assessment begins
November 2010 - initial open-pit proposal rejected by Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency review board. Environment Minister Jim Prentice and the minority Tory government support the rejection.^[3]
November 2011 - Taseko President Russell Hallbauer sends a letter to Environment Minister Peter Kent suggesting that the proposal was rejected for "spiritual" rather than environmental reasons.^[4]
2014 - Second rejection of mine by Harper government for environmental reasons
January 2017 - Attempted revival of dead project that has no support from local First Nation

Harmony Mine

The Harmony property is located on Graham Island, the largest island of the Haida Gwaii archipelago, within the Queen Charlotte Islands, off the coast of British Columbia. The property contains a low-grade gold mineralization that can only be mined profitably at historically high gold prices. Teseko has yet to explore this property and values the property at $1 on its balance sheet as of September 2004.^[5]

Status: Exploration asset

Reserves:

latest engineering study indicated 64 million tonnes at 1.52 grams per tonne. In place resources are ~3 million oz of gold.

Cost: No projects pending

projects pending: N/A

Timeline

1970's - property discovered
October 2001 - property acquired for 2.23 million dollars and preferred stock
September 30, 2004 - property value written down to nominal value of $1

Location: Aley

The Aley asset contains Niobium, a rare metal used in the production of special steel alloys that are corrosion resistant. Currently only 2 mines in the world produce the rare metal.^[6] The spot price of this metal has risen significantly in the last 5 years, from has low as $6.70 per lb in 2004 to ~$24.00 currently [1]. The property is located near the shore of the lake, about 30 kilometers from the Camp. The price of

Status: Exploration asset

Reserves: A feasibility study has not been completed thus-far. The resource estimates are 330-500 million lb with recoveries of which 65% may be recovered

Cost: N/A feasibility study not completed

Timeline

1980's – Discovered by Cominco
June 2007 - Teseko acquires property for 1.5 million cash + ~894,730 common shares
2008 - Exploration of property begins

Financial information

Shares listed on the NYSE under the "TGB" symbol
Taseko owns 7.318 million shares of Continental Mining, a Chinese mining company^[7]

**Assets**
Current Assets
	March 31, 2008	September 30, 2007	June 2007	September 2006
Cash and equivalents	66,416	37,636	44,306	89,408
Restricted Cash	-	4,400	4,400	-
Marketable Securities and investments	14,850	18,542	-	-
Accounts Receivable	12,209	12,021	16,203	9,342
Income Taxes Receivable	6,344	-	-	-
Advances to Related party	-	807	-	-
Inventory	22,724	18,058	12,744	24,218
Prepaid expenses	839	1,069	2,641	1,221
Current portion of promissory note	723	2,086	1,238	2,157
	124,105	94,619	97,907	149,447
Restricted Cash	-	4,400	4,400	-
Reclamation Deposits	35,468	33,396	32,653	32,004
Promissory Note	73,058	72,350	72,128	71,009
Property, plant and equipment	221,821	176,898	136,843	43,445
	458,852	337,263	339,531	297,461

**Liabilities**
Current Liabilities
	March 31, 2008	September 30, 2007	June 2007	September 2006
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	27,032	30,435	20,646	21,961
Advances from related party	118	-	-	-
Current portion of deferred revenue	175	175	1,095	1,225
Current portion of royalty obligation	723	2,086	1,238	2,157
Income taxes payable	-	6,573	13,166	3,985
Current portion of future income taxes	-	807	-	-
	29,976	44,589	35,225	47,862
Income taxes	25,478	24,645	22,523	21,058
Royalty obligation	62,590	63,330	63,825	64,632
Deferred revenue	963	1,050	1,094	1,225
Convertible debt	43,383	41,008	42,173	42,775
Site closure and reclamation cost	14,334	17,441	19,864	18,975
Future income taxes	35,671	21,540	5,591	-
	212,395	213,603	190,295	196,527