Construction activity at Florence Copper is now complete and the focus has shifted to wellfield operations and commissioning of the SX/EW plant. Wellfield acidification commenced in early November, and in early December mining solutions were circulating in all the new production wells within the commercial wellfield. Injection flowrates in the wellfield have met or exceeded expectations to-date, resulting in faster initial acidification of the wellfield. The grade of copper recovered in solution from the recovery wells has continued to increase, and the average solution grade has now reached the level required for SX/EW plant operations. Commissioning of the SX/EW plant area has been advancing without any significant issues, and plant operations are expected to commence shortly.
Wellfield drilling has also re-commenced with three drill rigs currently operating on site. Continued expansion of the commercial wellfield will support higher solution flows and increased copper production for the ramp-up this year.
Stuart McDonald, President and CEO of Taseko, commented, “The transition from construction to early-stage operations at Florence has gone smoothly, and we are very pleased with the initial copper recoveries and performance of the commercial wellfield. Our project team is focused on the successful start-up of the SX/EW plant in the coming days, followed by first copper cathode production within a few weeks.”