Vancouver, BC, July 12, 2021 /CNW/ - Taseko Mines Limited
(TSX: TKO) (NYSE MKT: TGB) (LSE: TKO) ("Taseko" or the "Company")
is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to
sell the Harmony Gold Project ("Harmony" or the "Project") to JDS
Gold Inc. ("JDS"), a newly incorporated company controlled by JDS
Energy & Mining Inc. and affiliates. Under the terms of
the agreement, JDS will become the owner and operator of the
Harmony Gold Project, a high-grade development-stage gold project
located on Graham Island in Haida
Gwaii.
Taseko will retain a 15% carried interest in JDS and a 2% net
smelter return royalty on the Project. Taseko also has the
right to terminate the agreement and revert to 100% ownership of
Harmony in the event JDS does not achieve certain project
development milestones and an IPO or other liquidity event within
an agreed timeframe. Closing of the transaction remains subject to
customary terms and conditions.
Stuart McDonald, President and
CEO of Taseko, commented, "We are continually looking for ways to
create shareholder value from our extensive pipeline of
high-quality development projects. With Florence Copper
expected to commence construction later this year and our
large-scale Yellowhead Copper project preparing to enter the
environmental assessment process, we did not expect to be in a
position to advance Harmony for a number of years. JDS Energy
& Mining Inc. has a proven track record of developing mineral
projects, and this transaction structure allows Taseko to
participate in their success and create value from this asset in
the near-term."
Jeff Stibbard, CEO of JDS Energy
& Mining Inc., stated, "As a mining development company, we are
always in search of high-quality projects in safe jurisdictions,
particularly in Canada. Harmony,
which had been in Taseko's inventory for two decades, is a mining
project which fits very well within the JDS group. With our
engineering, permitting and mine construction expertise, we believe
we can advance this project and create significant value for all
stakeholders."
About Harmony Gold Project
The Harmony Gold Project is
located on Graham Island in Haida
Gwaii, off the west coast of British
Columbia, Canada. The project comprises of 58 mineral
claims covering 177 square km. Previous owners of the Project
have carried out over 80,000 meters of drilling in 543 holes.
Taseko purchased the project in late 2001 and advanced engineering
work until 2008, when the Company focused efforts on its Gibraltar
Mine. The project has a historical resource estimate
containing over 3 million ounces of gold within 22 million tonnes
of measured and 42 million tonnes of indicated resources grading
1.77 and 1.41 g/t gold respectively at a 0.60 g/t gold cut-off
grade. This historical resource was estimated by M. Nowak, P.Eng.
in 1997 using multiple indicator kriging and classified in 2001 as
described by Nowak et al. in a February
2001 Misty Mountain Gold Ltd. report entitled "Resource
Estimate for the Specogna Gold Deposit". A qualified person
has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as
a current mineral resource and the Company is not treating the
historical estimate as a current mineral resource. A
qualified person would be required to review the historical
estimate and make recommendations in order to upgrade or verify it
as a current mineral resource.
About JDS Energy & Mining
JDS Energy & Mining
Inc. was founded in 2004 by President and CEO, Jeff Stibbard. The team is comprised of a
diverse set of skilled and highly experienced resource sector
professionals with a proven track record delivering and executing
project plans on budget, on time, and most importantly, safely with
no harm to people, environment, assets, or reputation. JDS is
focused on maintaining a social license to operate, globally, and
prides itself on delivering fit-for-purpose project concepts from
inception to full operations – a process it has executed seamlessly
for operations throughout Canada
and the world, including the Minto Mine in the Yukon, the Gahcho Kue Mine located in the
Northwest Territories, the
Silvertip Mine in northern British
Columbia, Victoria Gold's
Eagle Gold Mine in the Yukon, and
most recently, the PureGold Mine in Red
Lake Ont.
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 effect of COVID-19 and the response of
local, provincial, federal and international governments to the
threat of COVID-19 on our operations (including our suppliers,
customers, supply chain, employees and contractors) and economic
conditions generally and in particular with respect to the demand
for copper and other metals we produce;
- 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, including the "Risk Factors"
included in our Annual Information Form.
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SOURCE Taseko Mines Limited