Taseko ramps up cathode production, reports generous Q1 earnings
Vancouver-based Taseko Mines has achieved markedly higher earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) in the first quarter of the year, having sold 27-million pounds of copper and 708000 lb of molybdenum.
Earnings from mining operations before depletion and amortisation and non-recurring items increased by 195% year-on-year to $115-million, while adjusted Ebitda increased by 172% year-on-year to $93-million.
The group’s first-quarter net income amounted to $17-million, or $0.05 apiece, while adjusted net income amounted to $28-million, or $0.08 apiece.
The Gibraltar mine, in British Columbia, produced 30-million pounds of copper and 717000 lb of molybdenum in the quarter under review. Gibraltar is considered Canada’s second-largest copper mine.
The company started with copper cathode production at Florence Copper, in Arizona, earlier this year, with a total 1.5-million pounds of copper cathode having been produced in the first quarter.
Taseko confirms five drill rigs are on site and increased production from newly acidified wells at Florence Copper is expected later in the second quarter. Taseko expects copper cathode production of between 30-million and 35-million pounds in the full-year.
