800 West Pender
Street, Suite 1020
Vancouver , British Columbia
Canada V6C 2V6
www.tasekomines.com
TASEKO INITIATES
COPPER HEDGING PROGRAM TO SECURE CASH FLOW FOR 2009
April 16, 2009, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines
Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE Amex: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company")
is pleased to announce that it has established a hedging program for approximately
50% of targeted copper production to the end of 2009 from its wholly-owned
Gibraltar Mine.
The Company used a producer put and call option - a zero premium cost
strategy. Approximately 30 million pounds of copper has been hedged with
a price range of US$1.88 - US$2.36 per pound. Under the hedging program,
Taseko will receive the prevailing market copper price while within the
price range. Should the market price be outside the price range, Taseko
will receive a minimum of US$1.88 and a maximum of US$2.36 for the hedged
copper. The remaining estimated 30 million pounds of production is unhedged.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko stated, "Even though
the price of copper has increased considerably over the past three months,
there remains uncertainty with the world economic outlook. Given this recent
pricing strength, we believe it is timely to initiate a hedging strategy
that will preserve profitability for Taseko in the event of a copper price
retraction, while maintaining upside potential on the 50% of our production
that remains unhedged."
Mr. Hallbauer continued, "With Gibraltar's total cash costs of approximately
US$1.15 per pound and a minimum hedge price of US$1.88 per pound on 50%
of our production for the next eight months, we will continue our plans
to complete the Phase II capital expansion at Gibraltar. After the completion
of this phase, Gibraltar's annual production is expected to reach 115
million pounds of copper and one million pounds of molybdenum."
For further information contact: Brian Bergot, Investor Relations -
778-373-4545, toll free 1-800-667-2114
Russell Hallbauer
President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information 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
capital market conditions, commodities market prices, exploitation and exploration
successes, lack of continuity of mineralization, completion of the mill
upgrade on time estimated and at scheduled cost, 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 40-F
filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or the
Company's home jurisdiction filings at www.sedar.com.