UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
CIK # 878518
as at July 8, 2008
TASEKO MINES LIMITED
800 West Pender Street, Suite 1020
Vancouver , British Columbia
Canada V6C 2V6
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F...X.... Form 40-F.........
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ____
Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of
a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security
holders.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ____
Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in
this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.
Yes ..... No .....
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- ________
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant
has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned,
thereunto duly authorized.
By: /s/ Russell E. Hallbauer
President & CEO
Date: July 10, 2008
Print the name and title of the signing officer under his signature.
1020 - 800 W
Pender St.
Vancouver BC
Canada V6C 2V6
Tel 604 684 - 6365
Fax 604 684 - 8092
Toll Free 1 800 667- 2114
www.tasekomines.com
TASEKO UPDATES STATUS OF
GIBRALTAR MINE
July 8, 2008, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines Limited
(TSX:TKO; AMEX:TGB) wishes to provide an update on its Gibraltar Mine. As
announced on May 8, 2008 the main transformer for the new SAG mill failed
resulting in a 16-day outage of the concentrator. An investigation into the
failure of the transformer indicated that it had a defect when it was purchased,
and it was this defect that was the root cause of the failure. Taseko is now
pursuing warrantee coverage from the supplier as well as loss of business
insurance.
During this unscheduled outage, maintenance personnel utilized the available
time to work on further mill upgrades, chute repairs and areas affecting material
flow that have been impacting concentrator performance.
The 3.3 million pounds of copper production lost in May, combined with higher
than normal operating costs due to the accelerated maintenance activities
referred to above, as well as a change out of the SAG mill liners after 6
months of operation will have a direct impact on Taseko's third quarter
financials.
Since January, the mill operation's team has made steady progress towards
integration of all the concentrator circuits from the primary crusher, the
SAG mill and into the downstream secondary grinding and recovery systems as
defined in the Phase I scope of work. The integration of these milling circuits
has been more challenging than anticipated. While targeted operating levels
for the SAG mill, ball mills and flotation system have been achieved on an
individual basis, optimizing how each circuit works and interacts with the
others is taking longer than planned.
The following table shows the average daily production rates that have been
achieved over the past six months.
|
|
Average Production Rates (pounds per day) |
Annualized Production Rates (millions of pounds) |
|
January |
103,400 |
37.7 |
|
February |
114,900 |
41.9 |
|
March |
177,900 |
64.9 |
|
April |
144,900 |
52.9 |
|
May* |
168,700 |
61.6 |
|
June** |
178,800 |
65.3 |
* Exclusive of 16 day outage due to failure of transformer.
**Exclusive of three day outage to change SAG mill liner.
Daily production rates are expected to steadily increase over the coming
months.
The Phase II expansion is continuing on time and budget with the cleaner
cell installation complete and expected preliminary circuit operation commencing
by the end of July.
Mine operations commissioned the first of two new production drills in June
and are now preparing mining areas in anticipation of the arrival of the
new 60 yard mining shovel. This is the first of the three new 60 yard mining
shovels that are required to provide feed for the anticipated 85,000 ton
per day concentrator capacity.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko commented, "While uncontrollable
events, such as the failure of the transformer are unfortunate and will
affect our financial performance in the near-term, we remain focused on
integrating and optimizing our new concentrator circuit and adding our Phase
II upgrades as expeditiously as possible to coincide with the mining department's
ramp up in daily mining rates.
"We expect our increasing copper production trend to continue in the
months ahead as we capitalize on ongoing circuit integration of both our
Phase I & II expansion and modernization programs.
"With copper prices in the $3.90/lb range, our Phase I production levels
nearly achieved and our Phase II construction program advancing as planned,
we are making excellent progress in all areas of our business plan and are
excited about the next step change we see coming in our operations."
For further details on Taseko and its properties, please visit the Company's
website at www.tasekomines.com or contact Investor Services at (604) 684-6365
or within North America at
1-800-667-2114.
Russell Hallbauer
President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained
in this news release.
Forward Looking Statements
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking
statements". All statements in this release, other than statements
of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential,
exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments
that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company
believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include
market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, lack of continuity
of mineralization, continued availability of capital and financing, and
general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned
that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that
actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected
in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company,
Investors should review the Company's annual Form 20-F filing with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission or the Company's home
jurisdiction filings at www.sedar.com.