COPPER GOLD DEVELOPMENT: Mt. Milligan costs rise to $1.2-B

BRITISH COLUMBIA - Thompson Creek Metals of Denver has increased the capital expenditure budget for the Mt. Milligan copper-gold project to $1.27 billion from $915 million. The increase is due, said the company, to design improvement, increasing labour costs, the rising cost of steel, concrete and other materials, and changes in foreign exchange rates.

"Mt. Milligan is an important building block for our company, both in terms of growth and diversification," said chairman and CEO Kevin Loughrey. "We believe that, notwithstanding the capital increase, the economics for the project are still extremely attractive, and our liquidity and capital resources are sufficient to complete the construction of the Mt. Milligan mine.

"We expect to commence production in late 2013 and produce approximately 81 million pounds of copper and 194,000 ounces of gold annually," he added..

The project is located 155 km northwest of Prince George. It includes a conventional truck-and-shovel open pit with flotation concentrator. Measured and indicated resources total 247.2 million tonnes at 0.140% Cu and 0.006 g/t Au. There is also an inferred resource of 22.6 million tonnes at 0.150% Cu and 0.006 g/t Au.

Additional information is available at www.ThmpsonCreekMetals.com.