Florence Copper Project Remains On Schedule

VANCOUVER - Stuart McDonald, President and CEO of Taseko Mines Limited, reported, “Through the first 15 months of construction at Florence Copper in Arizona, all critical aspects of the project remain on schedule and our operating plans are well developed. In the coming months, site construction activities will begin to slow down and in the fall we expect to commence wellfield operations as we advance towards first copper cathode production later in the year. Our project team remains focussed on continued execution of the remaining construction activities, and our growing operations team is planning for the production ramp up in 2026.

At our Gibraltar mine in BC, mill throughput exceeded design capacity in the first quarter and head grades were in line with plan.  But copper production in the quarter was impacted by lower than expected metallurgical recoveries from oxidized ore.  Also, challenging ground conditions at the top of the current Connector pit pushback have led to lower mining productivities in recent months which will delay the release of higher-grade ore from the second quarter to the third quarter.  As a result, copper production for 2025 is expected to be about 10 million pounds (~8%) lower than our previous guidance.  Significantly higher grades and recoveries are expected in the second half of this year and into 2026”.

With less than nine months until the startup of Florence Copper, America’s next copper mine, Taseko is approaching a period of significant production and cashflow growth.  We are uniquely positioned as the North American copper producer with both near-term production growth and a longer-term growth pipeline.”