Journal of Commerce reported that Taseko Mines Limited is moving forward with USD 235 million copper mine expansion plan in BC after raising about USD 200 million in financing for the project.

Mr Russell Hallbauer president and CEO of Taseko said that “Engineering and procurement of the Gibraltar Development Plan 3 investment is well underway. All major mining and milling equipment has been secured and delivery schedules are set. Construction activity will commence in May with commissioning scheduled for December of 2012.”

A key component of Taseko’s growth strategy is the expansion and modernization of its 75% owned Gibraltar mine which is near Williams Lake. Construction on the GDP3 includes a 30,000 tonne per day concentrator to complement the existing 55,000 tonne per day facility currently operating.

The additional capacity will increase Gibraltar’s annual copper production by about 60 million pounds to 180 million pounds. An integral part of this project is a new molybdenum recovery facility increasing molybdenum metal production by about 1 million pounds per year.

Mr Hallbauer said that molybdenum recovery at Gibraltar continues to improve and is now approaching an average of 40% up from the 25% achieved in 2010. This is a strong indication that the new molybdenum plant being built as a component of GDP3 will add appreciably to total molybdenum metal production as a result of recovery improvement as well as increased throughput.

(Sourced from www.journalofcommerce.com)