Vancouver-based Imperial Metals saw increased revenues for the start of 2025 over the same quarter of 2024, according to a release in May.
“Imperial delivered solid operating and financial results for the first quarter of 2025,” stated Brian Kynoch, president of Imperial Metals, in the release.
The mining corporation owns the subsidiary Mount Polley Mining Corporation, which owns and operates Mount Polley Mine, an open-pit copper-gold mine located 56 km north east of Williams Lake.
Imperial Metals also owns 30 per cent of the Red Chris Mine, an open-pit copper-gold mine located 80 km south of Dease Lake.
The release reports a consolidated production for the first quarter of the year as 15,842,336 pounds of copper and 17,120 ounces of gold, an increase of 28 per cent and 33 per cent over the same period last year for the company. Mount Polley Mine produced more than 8.9 million pounds of copper and more than 10,000 ounces of gold during the first quarter of 2025.
The $176.6 million in revenue was a significant boost from the first quarter of 2024, which saw the company bring in a total revenue of $84.6 million.
Timing and quantity of concentrate shipments, metal prices, and exchange rates are some of the factors the release notes can impact revenues. No mention of the potential for the United States tariffs under President Donald Trump to impact revenues going forward in the release.
The release highlighted the impact a rise in copper and gold prices from March 2024 to March 2025 had on earnings and also mentioned the petition for a judicial review brought forward by Xatsull First Nation in April of 2025.
"No monetary relief is sought against Mount Polley Mining Corporation (MPMC), but if successful, both the application and petition could result in increased costs to MPMC and could adversely affect mining operations," stated the release.
The company reported investing $27.2 million in exploration, development and capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2025. In the first quarter of 2024, the company said it invested $15.8 million.
The release also included information on the Red Chris Mine, indicating an increase of more than 38 per cent in copper and 127 per cent in gold production at the facility over the previous year.
The company also owns Huckleberry Mine, located about 88 km southwest of Houston, B.C., which ceased production in 2016 and has been in "care and maintenance" every since.
In 2014, Mount Polley Mine was the site of a massive dam breach leading to the release of millions of cubic metres of mine waste into a nearby creek, Quesnel Lake and the Quesnel River. Since then, the Mount Polley Mining Corporation reports spending over $70 million on clean up, assessment and remediation.
The mine received provincial approval in March to raise the Mount Polley tailings dam by another four metres, sparking the Xatsull First Nation request for a judicial review of the permitting process. Xatsull sought a court injunction to halt raising the tailings dam until the judicial review, which is scheduled to take place at the end of June 2025.
With files from Andie Mollins and Monica Lamb-Yorski.
