VANCOUVER, Dec. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Taseko (TSX: TKO)
(NYSE MKT: TGB) (the "Company") has commenced a federal judicial
review, seeking to set aside certain findings of a review panel
report relating to the Company's New Prosperity Gold-Copper Project
environmental assessment.
Taseko is asking the court for a declaration that certain panel
findings relating to seepage and water quality be set aside, and
that the Panel failed in certain respects to comply with principles
of procedural fairness.
The judicial review will address the question of whether Natural
Resources Canada ("NRCan") - and in turn the panel - made a
fundamental error when determining expected seepage rates from the
tailings storage facility. Taseko believes the evidence is
clear that NRCan failed to account for a liner that would be part
of the tailings storage facility - thus modeling the wrong project
design and assuming water would seep into open ground.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency ("CEAA") requested
Taseko's response to several questions regarding this matter and
the Company has provided that information in letters dated
November 8 and November 15, 2013 to the Minister of Environment
and to CEAA respectively which are publicly available.
"Taseko had no choice but to file this application in order to
comply with a 30 day time limit," said Taseko President and CEO
Russell Hallbauer. "But we
remain of the view that the federal government should allow the
project to proceed to the next stage of detailed permit-level
examination and if so the judicial review would not need to
proceed," added Mr. Hallbauer.
The panel found that the project was not likely to have
significant adverse effects in approximately 30 different areas
including human health, salmon habitat and wildlife. Those
findings are not being challenged.
A copy of the application to the Federal Court and the
November 8 and 15, 2013 letters to
the Minister of Environmental are available at Taseko's website:
www.tasekomines.com
Russell Hallbauer
President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or
disapproved of the information contained in this news release.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
INFORMATION
This document contains "forward-looking statements" that were
based on Taseko's expectations, estimates and projections as of the
dates as of which those statements were made. Generally, these
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "outlook", "anticipate",
"project", "target", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend",
"should" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's
actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to
be materially different from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These included but are not limited
to:
- uncertainties and costs related to the Company's exploration
and development activities, such as those associated with
continuity of mineralization or determining whether mineral
resources or reserves exist on a property;
- uncertainties related to the accuracy of our estimates of
mineral reserves, mineral resources, production rates and timing of
production, future production and future cash and total costs of
production and milling;
- uncertainties related to feasibility studies that provide
estimates of expected or anticipated costs, expenditures and
economic returns from a mining project;
- uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary
licenses permits for development projects and project delays due to
third party opposition;
- uncertainties related to unexpected judicial or regulatory
proceedings;
- changes in, and the effects of, the laws, regulations and
government policies affecting our exploration and development
activities and mining operations, particularly laws, regulations
and policies;
- changes in general economic conditions, the financial markets
and in the demand and market price for copper, gold and other
minerals and commodities, such as diesel fuel, steel, concrete,
electricity and other forms of energy, mining equipment, and
fluctuations in exchange rates, particularly with respect to the
value of the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar, and the continued
availability of capital and financing;
- the effects of forward selling instruments to protect against
fluctuations in copper prices and exchange rate movements and the
risks of counterparty defaults, and mark to market risk;
- the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain
insurance to cover mining risks;
- the risk of loss of key employees; the risk of changes in
accounting policies and methods we use to report our financial
condition, including uncertainties associated with critical
accounting assumptions and estimates;
- environmental issues and liabilities associated with mining
including processing and stock piling ore; and
- labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or
difficulties in, the employment of labour in markets in which we
operate mines, or environmental hazards, industrial accidents or
other events or occurrences, including third party interference
that interrupt the production of minerals in our mines.
For further information on Taseko, investors should review the
Company's annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission www.sec.gov and home jurisdiction filings
that are available at www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Taseko Mines Limited