Florence Copper presents in-situ recovery process, cites first cathode harvest and local economic impacts

Sophie Dassar, manager of communications and public affairs at Florence Copper, briefed the Apache Junction City Council on July 7 about the company's in situ copper recovery (ISCR) operation in Florence, Arizona, describing the process and recent commercial production milestones.

Dassar said Florence Copper produced its first commercial copper cathode in February 2026 and reported about 1,500,000 pounds of copper produced in the first quarter following that milestone. She described the ISCR method at a high level: injecting a mildly acidic solution into a subsurface copper oxide zone (400'1,200 feet deep) to dissolve copper, extracting the copper-rich solution to surface facilities and plating it into LME Grade A copper cathodes. She told the council the operation recycles most of the process water and that the recovered solution ("raffinate") is reused; she said the site has a reverse-osmosis system and a partnership with a local alfalfa farmer to share reclaimed water.

Dassar said the site's average annual production capacity is about 85,000,000 pounds of copper per year with an estimated mine life of 22 years and that the project expands U.S. refined copper capacity. She said Florence Copper's parent company (identified in the presentation as Trucker Metals Limited) expects the project will contribute about $4.3 billion in economic activity to Arizona over the project and about $2.5 billion concentrated in Pinal County.

She described environmental and operational differences between ISCR and traditional open-pit mining: no open pit or large earth movers on site, no waste rock/tailings piles at the surface from their described processes, a smaller surface footprint and lower energy and water use compared with conventional mining, according to the presentation. She also said certain technical elements and equipment are proprietary and that site photos are restricted.

Council members asked technical questions about the chemical agent used (Dassar identified it as raffinate), water consumption and reuse, the need for specific hydrogeologic conditions to apply ISCR elsewhere, proprietary protections and workforce composition. Dassar said Florence Copper has grown from about 35 employees to over 200 during ramp-up and that the company has provided more than $225,000 in local grants and over $130,000 in scholarships to Pinal County students, including Apache Junction seniors.

What happens next: Florence Copper representatives said they welcome ongoing dialogue and will continue community outreach; city staff confirmed they will post the presentation materials online for public review.