Name of the Project
Florence Copper in situ copper recovery (ISCR) facility.
 
Location
Arizona, 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m to 366 m below ground in a bedrock layer beneath the lower aquifer unit from where local drinking water supplies are withdrawn.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
The production test facility at the Florence copper project is fully operational and is producing copper.  

Taseko has reported that, over a three-month period, about 1.5-million tons of copper ore has been contacted underground with leach solution and that concentrations in the solution have now risen to levels that have allowed for the solvent extraction and electrowinning plant to begin operations.

Taseko CEO Russell Hallbauer has noted that the proportion of ore contacted underground with leach solution, known as sweep efficiency, has been very encouraging to date.

“Our modelling predicted a 55% sweep efficiency after the first year of leaching and we have already achieved that level after the first three months."

Taseko hopes to have a financing package in place and to start construction of the commercial facility in the next 12 months.

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.