Name of the Project
Florence Copper in situ copper recovery (ISCR) facility.

Location
Arizona, in the US.

Project Owner/s
Florence Copper Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of midtier copper producer Taseko Mines.

Project Description
The Florence deposit contains 2.5-billion pounds of copper in 345-million tons of probable reserves.

The project proposes to build and operate the Florence Copper ISCR facility, and produce 85-million pounds a year of copper over the 22-year life-of-mine (LoM). 

ISCR is an extraction method used for selected mineral deposit conditions as an alternative to openpit or underground mining methods.

ISCR extracts copper by injecting a weak sulphuric acid solution, referred to as raffinate, through targeted portions of the mineral deposit using an array of injection wells. The raffinate passes through natural fractures and voids in the deposit and dissolves the copper mineralisation.

The copper laden solution, known as pregnant leach solution (PLS), is collected in recovery wells where it is pumped to the surface for processing. Copper is extracted from the PLS using solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX/EW) techniques producing a saleable copper cathode product.

Potential Job Creation
As of July 2025, about 330 workers were on site, down from peak levels in the first quarter.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at a 8% discount rate, of $930-million and an internal rate of return of 47%, with a payback of 2.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project has an initial capital expenditure of $232-million.

Planned Start /End Date
Construction of the commercial production facility started in January 2024, and first copper is expected to be produced in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Latest Developments
The project is progressing towards first production early next year.

Construction of the SX/EW plant reached substantial completion in September, with commissioning under way. Wellfield operations started in mid-October, and first solutions were injected in early November.

“Initial flow rates in the commercial wellfield have been in line with expectations at this point of the wellfield ramp-up process, and we’re now very close to first cathode production,” president and CEO Stuart McDonald has said.

Drilling on the wellfield will restart in the coming weeks to support cathode production ramp-up in 2026.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Taseko Mines, tel +1 778 373 4533 or email investor@tasekomines.com.