COPPER: Taseko hedges bets

VANCOUVER – Taseko Mines has taken measures to protect itself from a dropping copper price through the middle of next year. For the first quarter, the company has put options in place to guarantee a floor price for 30 million lb at a price of US$3.00 per pound. In the second quarter, the price will be US$2.90 per pound.

Taseko president and CEO said, "We initiated our hedging strategy in 2009 … to ensure stability of cash flow during times of metal price volatility. Although there appears to be a lack of direction with the copper price as a result of macroeconomic issues, we believe in the longer term fundamentals. With the weakening Canadian dollar, the Canadian dollar price of copper has remained stable over the past year and is approximately C$3.35 per pound today. With roughly 80% of our Gibraltar costs denominated in Canadian dollars, our US dollar hedging is advantageous to Taseko."

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