VANCOUVER, June 14, 2017 /CNW/ - Taseko Mines Limited
(TSX: TKO; NYSE MKT: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce that it has completed its offering of US$250 million aggregate principal amount of
8.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2022 (the "Notes"). The Company
used the net proceeds of the offering, and a portion of its
existing cash balance, to fund the redemption of its Senior Notes
due 2019 and to repay its senior secured credit facility and the
related copper call option.
Russell Hallbauer, President and
CEO of Taseko, stated, "We are pleased to have reduced our
outstanding debt with this transaction, while at the same time
pushing out the maturity date to June
2022. Our balance sheet is much stronger today and provides
the Company with the security and flexibility to manage our
operations at Gibraltar and
continue to advance our pipeline of projects. We felt that it was
prudent to use a portion of our growing cash balance, from strong
operating performance and the recent silver stream sale, to reduce
our overall long-term debt."
The Company used the proceeds from the Notes offering
(US$247.5 million) and a portion of
its cash on hand (US$54.5 million),
to fund the redemption of its outstanding Senior Notes due 2019
(the "Existing Notes") for US$203.8
million including accrued interest, to repay its senior
secured credit facility for US$79.4
million including accrued interest, to buy-out a copper call
option held by the credit facility lender (US$11.9 million) and for estimated transaction
costs of US$6.9 million.
The Notes have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act
of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or the securities laws
of any other jurisdiction. The Notes have not been qualified by a
prospectus in Canada. Unless
registered or qualified by a prospectus, the Notes may be offered
and sold, only in transactions that are exempt from registration
requirements and from prospectus qualification under Canadian
securities laws. In the United
States, the Notes were offered and sold, only to "qualified
institutional buyers" (as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities
Act) and outside the United
States, to non-U.S. persons in compliance with Regulation S
under the Securities Act.
This press release is neither an offer to sell nor the
solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes, the Existing Notes or
any other securities and shall not constitute an offer to sell or
solicitation of an offer to buy, or a sale of, the Notes, the
Existing Notes or any other securities in any jurisdiction in which
such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. This press release
does not constitute a notice of redemption with respect to the
Existing Notes.
Russell Hallbauer
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 and costs related to the Company's exploration
and development activities, such as those associated with
continuity of mineralization or determining whether mineral
resources or reserves exist on a property;
- uncertainties related to the accuracy of our estimates of
mineral reserves, mineral resources, production rates and timing of
production, future production and future cash and total costs of
production and milling;
- uncertainties related to feasibility studies that provide
estimates of expected or anticipated costs, expenditures and
economic returns from a mining project;
- uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary
licenses permits for development projects and project delays due to
third party opposition;
- 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, particularly laws, regulations
and policies;
- changes in general economic conditions, the financial markets
and in the demand and market price for copper, gold and other
minerals and commodities, such as diesel fuel, 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;
- the effects of forward selling instruments to protect against
fluctuations in copper prices and exchange rate movements and the
risks of counterparty defaults, and mark to market risk;
- the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain
insurance to cover mining risks;
- the risk of loss of key employees; 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;
- environmental issues and liabilities associated with mining
including processing and stock piling ore; and
- labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or
difficulties in, the employment of labour in markets in which we
operate mines, or environmental hazards, industrial accidents or
other events or occurrences, including third party interference
that interrupt the production of minerals in our mines.
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.
SOURCE Taseko Mines Limited