While discussions with potential lenders and finance providers for the development of Taseko Mines' (TGB -10.0%) Florence copper project remains ongoing, the company is also exploring the sale of a minority interest in the project to help develop the commercial operation.
The company said that discussions with interested parties were “advanced” and that a sale could fund a “significant” portion of the capital required for the project.
With an initial capital expenditure of $227M, the Florence Copper commercial facility will produce an average of 85M pounds a year of copper at a cost of $1.13/lb over its 20-year life-of-mine.
Taseko stated that it aimed to have a committed financing package in place before the receipt of its final permits. The company has received two permits and still requires one key permit to advance to production and expects to secure it by early 2021.
Meanwhile, Taseko reported that it had reverted to normal mining rates at its Gibraltar mine in Q3, on the back of the recovery in copper prices to $2.96/pound up from $2.43 in prior quarter.
Higher prices contributed to higher adjusted EBITDA and cash flow generation to $31.5M and 31M , respectively.
Copper production was 28.9M pounds. Copper grades in the final benches of the Granite pit were lower than expected.
Gibraltar pit mining would start in the first part of 2021 with ore release occurring in the second half of the year. Production guidance remains unchanged at ~130M pounds this year.