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 Taseko Mines.

Project Description
The Florence deposit contains 2.4-billion pounds of copper in 340-million tons of probable reserves.

The project proposes to build and operate an ISCR facility and produce an average of 55-million pounds of copper a year for the first six years and 85-million pounds a year for 14 years.

The full commercial life of the project is expected to be 25 years.

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

The ISCR process uses a mild solution of 99.5% water and 0.5% acid that slowly dissolves copper in the bedrock. The diluted solution is pumped under low pressure through injection wells to dissolve the copper within the copper oxide zone.

Copper-rich solution is pumped to the surface through recovery wells for processing into pure copper cathode sheets.

The in situ process will occur from 122 m to 366 m below ground in a bedrock layer beneath the lower aquifer unit from where local drinking water supplies are withdrawn.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 7.5% discount rate, of $725-million, with an internal rate of return of 36% using a long-term copper price of $2.75/lb. 

Capital Expenditure
Taseko Mines will spend an estimated $208-million to develop the project.

Planned Start /End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Taseko Mines has invited public comment on its commercial Florence Copper production facility until September 11.

This follows the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s issuing of a draft aquifer protection permit for the facility.

The protection permit is one of two key permits required to advance the project to commercial production.

Taseko is now advancing the permit amendment process to transition the project to the commercial production facility, which includes an expanded wellfield and a solvent extraction and electrowinning plant that will produce an average of 85-million pounds of copper a year over its 20-year life.

“We fully expect that, following the 30-day public comment period, the department will be positioned to quickly issue the final permit,” Taseko CEO Russel Hallbauer has said.

The company has completed a full evaluation of data collected from the test wellfield for the facility over the past 18 months. The test facility has successfully demonstrated the company’s ability to produce high-quality copper cathode within stringent environmental guidelines while confirming project economics.

Hallbauer has stated that many of the modelled assumptions on the facility have been validated and the company has used the data to develop strategies for solution chemistry, flow rates, reverse flow and the use of well packers for targeting solution flows.

With all of the required data in hand, Taseko has decided to wind down the production phase of the test facility and start with rinsing the small section of the orebody where the wellfield has been operating.

“Timing of these activities is expected to mesh well with the overall project timeline and will provide our operating team with additional site-specific experience,” Hallbauer has noted.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Florence Copper Incorporated manager of communications and public affairs, Stacy Gramazio, tel +1 520 374 3984 or email stacygramazio@florencecopper.com.