Taseko’s Florence Copper with Metso SX-EW: in-situ leach lessons for mine engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Taseko Mines’ Florence Copper in-situ recovery project in Arizona has begun ramping up commercial operations, producing its first copper cathodes in late February 2026 using Metso’s solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) technology. The greenfield operation leaches copper from a deep oxide deposit via injection and recovery wells, sending pregnant leach solution to a Metso SX circuit and EW cells to plate high-purity cathode on stainless steel blanks. For engineers, the project is a live test case for large-scale in-situ leaching in a water-stressed, populated basin with strict groundwater controls.
Technical Brief
- Florence’s configuration provides a reference case for integrating commercial-scale in-situ leaching with a dedicated SX-EW plant in the US.
Our Take
Metso’s role at Florence Copper adds a hydrometallurgical reference to a portfolio in our database that is otherwise dominated by its recent grinding and crushing wins, such as the Vertimill® order for a DR-grade iron ore project and the Blackwater gold plant package.
Among the 251 copper-tagged pieces in our coverage, very few are US-based projects in Arizona, so Florence’s SX-EW start-up gives Taseko Mines a relatively rare domestic cathode growth story against a backdrop of more frequent Latin American and African copper items.
With first copper cathodes targeted by end-February 2026, the project’s timeline positions Taseko to benefit from any mid-decade copper supply tightness flagged across other copper project coverage, potentially improving financing and offtake leverage if commissioning stays on track.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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