North America-focused Taseko Mines Ltd (TSX:TKO) (NYSEAMERICAN:TGB) plans to list its shares in London as the copper producer wants access to a larger pool of investors.
Taseko does not plan to raise any extra capital as part of the process of joining London's main market, having increased its cash balance to C$42mln by the half-year stage this year.
The Vancouver-headquartered company owns 75% of the operational Gibraltar mine in central British Columbia and is developing its 100%-owned Florence copper project in Arizona.
In a statement, Taseko's chief executive Russell Hallbauer said: “The solid base of copper production and cash flow from our Gibraltar Mine, combined with near-term production from our Florence copper project, presents an excellent investment opportunity currently unavailable to generalist investors in the UK and Europe.”
Gibraltar produced 34.7mln pounds of copper in the second quarter of the year and earlier this week, Taseko said it hoped to obtain commercial permits for Florence next summer to begin ramping up for commercial operations, having commissioned a 24-hole test of the site this year and lately producing copper in solution at an annualized rate of roughly 600,000 lbs per year.
“Given the quality of our North American asset base, and the near-term development of Florence Copper that will transform Taseko into a multi-asset, low-cost producer, we feel the timing is right to list on the LSE,” Hallbauer said, adding that the London quote will enhance its international profile as well as attracting further institutional shareholders.
As well as a highly liquid market, Taseko said London has a larger pool of active investors who have an established history of investing in mining stocks, with a "deep understanding of the North American operating environment, but limited exposure to mid-tier copper producers in low-risk jurisdictions".