The $40 to $50 million that Florence Copper plans to invest over the next 18 to 24 months on mineral extraction in Central Arizona will bring to nearly $100 million its expenditure on Phase I of the Florence Copper project. Phase II, planned to be $250 million, will begin the latter part of next year and will more than double Phase I’s investment.
Noting this investment includes both direct-hire employment and contracting for services, Florence Copper President and CEO Michael McPhie says, “It’s quite exciting to work in a jurisdiction where there’s such a wide variety and depth of experience.” Florence Copper is part of Curis Resources, which is based in Vancouver, Canada, and active on four continents.
The life of the Florence Copper project — from the permitting process now being completed to construction, slated to begin before the end of this year, to development, mining and, ultimately, closing — is expected to be 25 or more years and will support nearly 700 jobs. “We engage a significant amount of Arizona businesses into our operations,” McPhie says.
Calling Arizona one of the top jurisdictions in the world for exploration and mining, with an incredible supply chain of companies and organizations that participate in the industry, McPhie says Arizona has been a pioneer in copper mining over the decades and the in-situ type of extraction the Florence Copper project will use “is another example of perfecting it.” Newly applied to copper but with a history of use with other minerals, the technique is low-impact and does not create tailings and gaping holes.
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