AEMA, coalition launch legal challenge to BLM Conservation and Landscape Health Rule
The American Exploration & Mining Association was joined by a coalition in filing a challenge last Friday in the Wyoming district court.
Taseko Mines is adding capacity to its Gibraltar Copper Mine in north-central British Columbia.
The company stated Wednesday that its board of directors has approved construction of 30,000 tpd concentrator to complement the existing 55,000 tpd facility. The second concentrator will increase Gibraltar’s average annual copper production by about 60 million pounds, to 180 million pounds.
A new molybdenum recovery facility is expected to increase molybdenum production by over a million pounds per year.
Capital costs for the expansion program will total $325 million, with $235 million going towards the new concentrator and molybdenum plant, and about $90 million for new mining equipment. The company anticipates payback within three years at a 30 percent internal rate of return.
“(The expansion program) is a good example of management’s continued focus on unlocking value of our long-life assets,” said Taseko President and CEO Russell Hallbauer. “This project’s capital cost intensity of $7,800 per ton of daily mill capacity and $10,800 per ton including mine equipment is one of the lowest of any project being developed globally, and is reflected in the rate of return and quick payback.”
Construction of the new concentrator will start this spring; it is expected to be online in the fourth quarter of 2012. Taseko plans to undertake a new drill program to increase throughput for the new concentrator and to build on the mine’s current reserves of 445 million tons.
