Florence Copper charts a new course for US copper production

As demand for copper continues to climb alongside the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), electrification and advanced manufacturing, the United States faces growing pressure to secure domestic supplies of the metal. Analysts expect global copper demand to increase sharply over the next two decades, as the production of electric vehicles, renewable energy and AI data centers ramps up. At the same time, new copper mines have become increasingly difficult to develop. In central Arizona, one project is taking a different approach. Located in the town of Florence between Phoenix and Tucson, Florence Copper recently became the first major new source of U.S. copper in more than a decade. In early 2026, the project began commercial operations after spending years developing its copper recovery process at a test stage. Rather than relying on an openpit or an underground mine, the operation uses in situ copper recovery (ISCR), a process that extracts copper from underground without blasting, hauling or constructing tailings facilities. The project is the world’s first greenfield commercial ISCR copper project and produces London Metal Exchange (LME) Grade A copper cathode on site, which allows the finished product to move directly to U.S. manufacturers without off-site smelting. Not only is Florence Copper a new copper operation that will help strengthen domestic mineral supply chains, but it is also a testament to whether certain copper deposits can be developed using a lower-impact approach. Traditional copper mining typically involves removing large volumes of rock from an openpit or underground workings before processing and transporting concentrate to a smelter. However, Florence Copper’s in situ process eliminates many of those steps. “Rather than extracting and processing massive quantities of mineralized rock, the ISCR process at Florence Copper leaches copper minerals into solution below ground before pumping a copper-rich solution to surface and processing it into pure copper cathode sheets on site,” said Sophie Dessart, manager of communications and public affairs at Florence Copper. The process takes place between 122 and 365 m (400 and 1,200 ft) below the surface within a naturally fractured copper oxide deposit saturated with groundwater. Operators inject a mildly acidic solution, comparable in acidity to household vinegar, through a series of wells. As the solution moves through the orebody, it dissolves copper minerals before recovery wells pump the copper-rich solution back to the surface. At the surface, the solution enters a solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX/EW) plant, where it is refined into LME Grade A copper cathodes. Once the copper has been removed, the remaining solution is recycled back into the wellfield, creating a closed-loop process that repeats throughout the life of the operation. Although Florence Copper only began commercial production this year, development of the deposit stretches back more than five decades. Copper was first identified on the property in 1969 after geologists recognized evidence of mineralization near Poston Butte. Its initial investigations focused on conventional mining methods before companies began evaluating the site’s potential for in situ recovery during the 1990s. In 2014, Trekor Metals (formerly Taseko Mines) acquired the project, and in 2017, construction of a production test facility began. Two years later, the pilot operation produced its first copper cathode using ISCR. Over the next several years, the facility safely produced more than one million pounds of copper while generating operational data that helped engineers refine commercial design. “The production test facility played a critical role by allowing Florence Copper to demonstrate the safety, effectiveness, compliance with permit conditions and overall environmental responsibility of the ISCR process while also generating valuable operational data to optimize performance at commercial scale,” said Dessart. The company completed construction of its production facility in fall 2025 and produced its first copper cathode in February 2026. Dessart said the project reached its construction and commissioning phase on schedule and within roughly 4 percent of budget.Florence Copper now expects to reach full production in 2027, with the capacity to produce 85 million pounds of copper annually. Over its projected 22-year mine life, the operation is expected to produce more than 1.5 billion pounds of copper cathode. At full production, the project is expected to increase U.S. copper cathode output by 5 percent compared with 2025 levels and make the country’s third-largest copper cathode producer. The timing of Florence Copper’s commercial launch coincides with a period of growing concern about future copper supply. According to S&P Global’s 2026 report, “Copper in the Age of AI: The Challenges of Electrification,” global copper demand could increase roughly 50 percent by 2040, reaching 42 Mt/a (46 stpy). The report projects that AI infrastructure alone will require significant volumes of copper, with a single hyperscale data center consuming as much as 50 kt (55,000 st). Without substantial new investment, the report warns the world could face a copper supply deficit approaching 10 Mt (11 million st) by 2040. But with the addition of Florence’s production, the U.S. could add a significant amount of the critical mineral to its domestic supply. “Florence Copper is emerging as a critical new source of U.S.-produced refined copper at a time when global demand is accelerating significantly,” said Dessart. “We are proud to serve as a new domestic source of U.S. copper, helping strengthen supply chains, support economic growth and ensure that the materials essential to electrification, innovation and national security are produced here at home.” A greener future for copper Without blasting, hauling, crushing or waste rock disposal, the project avoids many of the activities commonly associated with conventional mining. It also eliminates the need for tailings storage facilities and large waste rock piles, leaving a much smaller surface footprint. “Once Florence Copper’s operations are complete, and the site has been reclaimed, the property will look much as it does today and could be used for a variety of future purposes, including parkland, residential housing, manufacturing activities, or simply returned to its natural desert landscape,” said Dessart. Compared with conventional openpit copper mines in Arizona, Florence Copper is forecast to generate 75 percent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions, 65 percent lower energy consumption and 78 percent less water use per pound of copper produced, she added. Water conservation is a key aspect of the project’s design. After copper is removed during processing, the solution is recycled through the wellfield rather than discarded. ISCR operations at Florence Copper produce surplus water, a portion of which is provided to a local farmer under an agreement that reduces agricultural groundwater withdrawals. Investing in the local community Today, Florence Copper enjoys broad community support, but company officials acknowledge that acceptance did not happen overnight. When the project first entered permitting, many residents assumed Florence would resemble a conventional openpit mine and questioned whether in situ recovery could adequately protect groundwater. “As someone who lives just minutes from the Florence Copper site, I completely empathize with these residents wanting to ensure that our amazing town thrives,” Dessart said. “These concerns helped shape how Florence Copper approached the project’s design and community engagement.” Florence Copper prides itself on its local recruitment efforts and giving back to the surrounding community. Since early 2023, the workforce has grown from roughly 35 employees to more than 200, with the majority of new hires coming from Pinal County. These positions span across electrical work, administration, procurement, accounting, welding, operations, supervision, engineering, technical services and mechanical maintenance. An analysis by Arizona State University’s L. William Seidman Research Institute projects that Florence Copper will support more than 810 direct, indirect and induced jobs across Arizona while generating about $4.3 billion in economic activity during the life of the project, including $2.5 billion concentrated in Pinal County. According to Dessart, the company has also invested directly in the surrounding community through scholarships, charitable grants and volunteer programs. Since 2013, the Florence Copper Community Foundation has contributed more than $225,000 to local nonprofit organizations, while the company’s scholarship program has awarded $20,000 this year alone to local high school seniors. “Florence Copper is committed to supporting the Town of Florence and surrounding communities, and we expect that contribution to grow as commercial operations continue to ramp up,” Dessart said. Geological hesitations in future endeavors Though a more ideal project design, one of the biggest limitations of in situ copper recovery is that it cannot be applied to every copper deposit. Unlike conventional openpit or underground mining, which can be adapted to a wide range of orebodies, ISCR depends on a very specific combination of geological and hydrogeological conditions. If those conditions are not present, the solution cannot effectively contact and dissolve the copper minerals, making the process technically or economically unfeasible.Florence’s orebody proved uniquely suited for the process. Earlier attempts to evaluate conventional mining methods during the 1970s found that the deposit’s hydrogeology made traditional development difficult. Those same characteristics later made it an ideal candidate for in situ recovery. While ISCR cannot replace all conventional mining, the project demonstrates that alternative extraction methods can expand domestic production where those conditions exist. “We are proud to showcase the success of ISCR on a commercial scale, and we believe there are other opportunities to expand this technology to other sites in the U.S,” said Dessart. “Since we have the operational knowledge and technical expertise, we are eager to explore these opportunities to expand ISCR to other sites in the longer term.” For now, Florence Copper is focused on reaching full production in 2027 while continuing to demonstrate that lower-impact mining and commercial-scale copper production can coexist. As the United States looks to secure the raw materials needed for AI and advanced manufacturing, Florence Copper offers a glimpse of how innovation in mining methods may become as important as discovering the next major orebody.

Florence Copper charts a new course for US copper production

Authored by: Carrie Smith

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