Citizen Portal
Sign In

Florence Copper says commercial operations, hiring and large local economic impacts are underway

Town of Florence · February 12, 2026

Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts

Subscribe
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Florence Copper told attendees at Florence’s State of the Town that commercial operations are beginning and that the company expects expanded production and local hiring; the company provided production and economic projections that town leaders welcomed as a major local economic driver.

Sophie Desart, manager of communications and public affairs for Florence Copper, told the Florence 2026 State of the Town that the company has moved into commercial-scale operations and expects to produce its first commercial copper cathode “in the coming weeks.” Florence Copper described its process as an in situ copper recovery project and said it had produced more than 1,000,000 pounds of copper to date.

Desart said the company’s expanded facilities will have an average annual production capacity of about 85,000,000 pounds of copper per year over 22 years and projected roughly $4.3 billion in economic activity statewide, including about $2.5 billion concentrated in Pinal County. She also told the audience the workforce has grown from about 35 employees in January 2023 to more than 170 today, with plans to reach roughly 200 employees in coming months. “We expect to produce our first copper cathode from our commercial facilities in the coming weeks,” Desart said.

Town officials at the event echoed Florence Copper’s importance to local employment and community projects. Council member Jose Maldonado noted Florence Copper’s local scholarship and community support and that the company contributed $50,000 toward an inclusive playground at Jason Lopez Memorial Park.

The statements presented at the event are company reports and descriptions of their operations and forecasts as delivered by Florence Copper’s representative; the town hosted the remarks as part of its State of the Town program and did not take formal action during the presentation. The company’s numerical production, economic and employment figures were provided by Florence Copper at the event and are reported here as the company presented them.