The Florence copper project is advancing on schedule and is now about 40% complete, keeping it on track for first production in about a year’s time.

In an update on Monday, CEO Stuart McDonald said that Taseko was pleased with progress in the first nine months of construction of the in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) project.

“With approximately 75% of total construction costs now committed, we expect total costs to be within 10% to 15% of the original $232-million estimate,” said McDonald.

Since construction commenced earlier this year, the bulk of activities have been focused on earthworks, concrete, and wellfield drilling. Installation of structural steel, tanks and process equipment is now under way.

McDonald stated that first copper production in late 2025 would be a transformative event for the company.

The Florence Copper ISCR facility will produce 85-million pounds a year of copper over the 22-year life-of-mine (LoM). Total LoM production is estimated at 1.5-million pounds of copper.

ISCR is an extraction method used for selected mineral deposit conditions as an alternative to openpit or underground mining methods.

Meanwhile, Taseko has applied to the US Department of Energy's Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) programme. 

McDonald said Florence Copper, which is set to become North America's lowest greenhouse-gas-intensity primary copper producer, qualifies as a critical materials project. 

“After submitting a concept paper in June, we received encouragement to proceed with the full application. We have now filed the application seeking a tax credit of up to $110-million, and we expect to hear whether Florence qualifies for the credit, or not, in January 2025,” he said.