Taseko Mines Q1 copper output dawn by 17pct at Gibraltar

Reuters reported that Canada's Taseko Mines Limited posted 17% drop in quarterly copper production at its Gibraltar mine in British Columbia hurt by a harsh winter and an unscheduled maintenance shut down that lasted for 4 days.

For the Q1, Taseko produced 19.2 million pounds of copper compared with 23.2 million pounds of copper a year ago at its 75% owned Gibraltar mine. The Vancouver based miner however posted 63% rise in molybdenum production at 316,000 pounds.

The company said that molybdenum recovery at the mine has continued to improve and is nearing an average of 40% compared with last year's 25%. This is a strong indication that the new molybdenum plant will add appreciably to total molybdenum metal production.