VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – British Columbia-based base metals producer Taseko Mines has acquired about 2 500 ha in new mineral claims that are located next to the existing Gibraltar claims. However, these are well outside the current mining areas, the company announced Tuesday.
The new claims were located about 2 km north-west of the flagship mine’s Extension Zone that formed part of the operation’s current compliant resources and reserves.
The Vancouver-headquartered miner advised that an induced polarisation campaign that was undertaken on the ground about 30 years ago, had identified magnetic highs associated with porphyry deposits. This was followed by limited drilling.
TSX- and NYSE MKT-listed Taseko said that, based on a desktop evaluation undertaken before buying the new exploration land package, there was an indication of mineral occurrences, with mineralisation trending to the north-northwest and beyond previous claim boundaries onto the newly acquired property.
A more recent exploratory drill hole located north-west of the extension zone area supported the results of the desktop evaluation. The company was in the late stages of compiling assay data from the hole, along with other historical geological data, Taseko noted.
Gibraltar’s copper production guidance for the year is between 130-million pounds and 140-million pounds, with a 0.24% and 0.30% average head grade expected in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
The higher head grades are expected to continue into 2017.
Taseko had recently announced that it was mulling restarting the molybdenum recovery circuit at Gibraltar on the back of rising prices for the steel-strengthening ingredient. Molybdenum prices had risen by about 32% in the past six months to $7.26/lb on Monday.