Base metals company Taseko Mines has delivered its best financial results yet, buoyed by strong metal prices which will continue to provide a tailwind for the Gibraltar mine, in British Columbia, Canada, over the coming year.

The TSX- and NYSE American-listed miner, which also owns Florence Copper in the US, generated record revenue of C$433.28-million, an increase of about $90-million on the previous year’s revenue.

Net income increased to C$36.47-million, from a loss of C$23.5-million in 2020, with adjusted income rising to C$44.75-million, from a loss of C$26.54-million.

The group sold 104.9-million pounds of copper in the year from Gibraltar, which produced 112.3-million pounds of copper and two-million pounds of molybdenum in 2021.

Fourth-quarter sales were impacted by a major disruption to transport infrastructure in southern British Columbia in November. The washed-out highways and rail infrastructure limited the firm’s ability to ship copper concentrate, resulting in a build-up of copper concentrate inventory to 9.9-million pounds at year-end.

In the fourth quarter, Gibraltar sold 23.8-million pounds of copper.

Taseko stated that it had extended its copper price protection and that more than 90% of its attributable production had been secured for 2022 at $4/lb.

Gibraltar is expected to produce 115-million pounds of copper in 2022, with production weighted to the back half of the year and the first quarter being the lowest production quarter, similar to 2021. 

The expected sales of excess copper concentrate inventory carried over from 2021 will bolster earnings in the first quarter of 2022.  

Taseko stated that the copper price outlook for 2022 remained “quite favourable with limited exchange inventories and ongoing supply constraints failing to keep up to demand”.

At Florence Copper, based on ongoing dialogue with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Taseko continues to expect the draft Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit to be publicly issued “very soon”. A 45-day public comment period will then get under way.

The UIC is the final permit needed to construct and operate the commercial production facility.