Taseko Mines Ltd has announced the results of the recently completed technical report for its 100%-owned Yellowhead Copper Project in British Columbia.
The company has filed the new technical report on SEDAR+, preparing it in compliance with NI 43-101 and incorporating updated capital and operating cost estimates, long-term street consensus metal prices, and additional technical and engineering work completed since the previous technical report was filed in January 2020.
Project highlights:
- 25 year mine life with average annual copper production of 178 million pounds, at total cash costs (C1) of US$1.90/lb.
- Concentrator designed to process 90 000 tpd of ore with an expected copper recovery of 90%, and produce a clean copper concentrate with payable gold and silver by-products.
- Conventional open pit mining with a low strip ratio of 1.4.
- NPV (8%) of CAN$2.0 billion and IRR of 21% (after-tax), at US$4.25/lb copper, US$2400/oz gold and US$28.00/oz silver.
- Over the first five years of the mine life, grade is expected to average 0.32% copper, producing an average of 206 million pounds of copper at total cash costs (C1) of US$1.62/lb.
- Life of mine site operating costs of CAN$12.89/t milled.
- Initial capital costs of CAN$2.0 billion with a payback period of 3.3 years.
- Expected to be eligible for the federal Canadian Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, with 30% (approximately CAN$540 million) of eligible initial capital costs reimbursed in year one of operation.
- Total life of mine production of 4.4 billion lb of copper, 282 000 oz of gold and 19.4 million oz of silver.
Stuart McDonald, President & CEO, comments:
“This new Technical Report establishes Yellowhead as a world class copper project in a tier one jurisdiction. With strengthening copper prices, the project economics have improved significantly since the 2020 technical report. The project now has a CAN$2 billion NPV and the potential to become one of the largest copper mines in North America.
“It’s been just six years since we acquired Yellowhead for CAN$16 million, and we’ve added an incredible amount of value to the project since then. Over the next few years, in parallel with the permitting process, we will also be advancing engineering, community engagement, copper offtake discussions, and project financing initiatives. The Yellowhead Project provides a unique opportunity as a longer-term growth option for Taseko and we will continue to methodically move the project forward to create value for all stakeholders.”