Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE American: TGB; LSE: TKO) (“Taseko” or the “Company”) today announced the results of the recently completed technical report for its 100%-owned Yellowhead Copper Project (the “Yellowhead Project” or the “Project”) in British Columbia. The Company has filed the new technical report (“Technical Report Update on the Yellowhead Copper Project” dated July 10, 2025) (the “Technical Report”) on SEDAR+. The Technical Report was prepared in compliance with NI 43-101 and incorporates 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. All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted and “tonnes” refers to metric tonnes.
Stuart McDonald, President & CEO commented, “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 $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 $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,” Mr. McDonald added.
Project Highlights:
- 25 year mine life with average annual copper production of 178 million pounds, at total cash costs (C1) of US$1.90 per pound.
- Concentrator designed to process 90,000 tonnes per day 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 $2.0 billion and IRR of 21% (after-tax), at US$4.25/lb copper, US$2,400/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 per pound.
- Life of mine site operating costs of $12.89/tonne milled.
- Initial capital costs of $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% (~$540 million) of eligible initial capital costs reimbursed in year one of operation.
- Total life of mine production of 4.4 billion pounds of copper, 282 thousand ounces of gold and 19.4 million ounces of silver.
The Yellowhead Project is located in central British Columbia, approximately 300 km southeast of the Company’s Gibraltar Mine and 150 km north of Kamloops, BC, a regional mining hub and home to many suppliers, consultants and contractors which service the mining industry. The Project benefits from excellent transportation infrastructure as a major highway passes 8 km north of the site, and the Company owns a rail siding nearby which provides easy access to the CN Rail transcontinental line.
Mining operations will be conducted from a single open pit using conventional truck and shovel mining techniques. The Yellowhead Project’s process flowsheet consists of a conventional SAG and ball milling circuit, followed by rougher flotation, regrinding of rougher concentrate, and a three-stage cleaner flotation circuit. Chalcopyrite is the dominant copper bearing mineral across the deposit, comprising more than 98% of the copper contained in the mineral reserves.
The Project would create significant economic activity to benefit surrounding communities, the Province of BC and Canada. In operation, Yellowhead would support about 590 direct jobs and approximately 1,120 indirect and induced jobs in the area. Total tax payments to the Provincial and Federal governments over the 25-year mine life are estimated at $3.2 billion.
Initial capital costs of $2.0 billion are estimated based on budgetary quotes for equipment and current pricing for materials, labour and services in British Columbia and reflect a pre-feasibility level of engineering and appropriate contingencies. The Project is also expected to benefit from the Canadian Federal Clean Technology Manufacturing (CTM) Investment Tax Credit for critical mineral extraction projects. This would result in approximately $540 million of investment tax credits, refundable to Taseko in year one of operation.
Operating cost estimates are based on a combination of vendor supplied quotes and Taseko’s experience operating the Gibraltar Mine which uses similar mining and processing methods.
In addition to updated project costing and new tax rules, other changes from the 2020 technical report include updated long-term metal prices to reflect current market consensus, and a new transmission line design to supply power to site.
The following is a summary of the key economic results:
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