The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has informed Canadian metals miner Taseko that it expects to issue the draft underground injection control (UIC) permit for its Florence project, in Arizona, towards the end of the third quarter.

The timing for the permit for the in-situ copper recovery facility is later than previously expected, Taseko president and CEO Stuart McDonald says, but states that it is the company’s understanding that there are no issues.

“ . . . the agency just needs additional time to complete its internal reviews of the permit,” says McDonald.

Taseko is preparing to make initial deposits for major processing equipment associated with the solvent extraction and electrowinning plant, which will allow the company to advance construction activities upon receipt of the final permit. 

The in situ copper recovery process that Taseko is proposing at Florence uses water and sulphuric acid to dissolve copper in the bedrock. Opponents are concerned that it could pollute water supplies in the state.

The Florence deposit contains 2.5-billion pounds of copper and Taseko plans to produce an average of 55-million pounds of copper a year for the first six years and 85-million pounds a year for the 20-year life-of-mine.

Meanwhile, Taseko says that its Gibraltar mine, in British Columbia, produced 27-million pounds of copper and 400 000 lb of molybdenum in the second quarter of 2021.

McDonald notes that the current price environment will lead to robust cashflows for Taseko.

“Copper prices remained strong over the second quarter, and the average LME price of $4.40 per pound is the highest ever for a quarterly period. We took advantage of the strong market conditions to extend our price protection programme through the acquisition of copper collars. These contracts secure a minimum copper price of $4.00/lb and a ceiling price of $5.60/lb for 42-million pounds of copper over the first half of 2022. This supplements the existing put option protection that we have in place for the second half of 2021 and ensures that Gibraltar will be generating strong cashflows during construction of the Florence Copper commercial facility."