About Florence Copper
The Florence Copper property is located within the Town of Florence and Arizona’s historic Copper Corridor – a region steeped in copper mining history. However, Florence Copper is not your typical mining operation. It will produce copper metal on site using in-situ copper recovery (ISCR), an innovative and proven process that has unique environmental benefits.
Over the course of its 20+ year operating life, Florence Copper is expected to support more than 810 Arizona jobs, while generating $4.3 billion in economic activity for Arizona.
What is in-situ copper recovery?
Rather than extracting and processing massive quantities of mineralized rock, Florence Copper’s unique in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) process dissolves copper minerals below ground, pumping a copper-rich solution to surface and processing it into pure copper cathode sheets on site.
To be effective, ISCR requires unique hydrogeological conditions that the Florence Copper property and orebody happen to possess. Specifically, the deposit is naturally porous and shattered, and inundated with water, which allows the extraction solution to easily flow through it.
The ISCR process allows for copper to be produced without major land disturbance or operational impacts such as blasting and hauling, waste piles, or the smelting process traditionally associated with copper mining. Once the ISCR process is complete, the land will look much as it does today and can be used for a variety of future purposes, including parkland, residential housing, manufacturing activities, or simply returned to its natural desert landscape.
Due to the benefits of ISCR, the Florence Copper project is considered to be one of the most environmentally friendly copper developments in the world. Benefits include limited land disturbance, low-impact operations, low greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity, and low energy and water use. Florence Copper has already produced more than one million pounds of copper using this green method of copper production.
Project Status
Florence Copper is currently preparing to construct a commercial production facility, which will expand the project’s smaller-scale Production Test Facility. During construction, approximately $230 million will be invested. The first copper cathode produced from the commercial facility is expected in 2025. When fully operational, the facility will have a production capacity of 85 million pounds of LME Grade A copper metal each year and a mine life of 22 years.
