Florence Copper marked the start of commercial production on October 6 at its site outside Florence, Arizona, the first new major U.S. copper operation in close to two decades and the first commercial-scale in-situ copper recovery mine in the world. Trekor Metals, the project’s parent company, hosted federal, state, and local officials for the milestone, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
- Florence Copper, a Trekor Metals project, began commercial copper production in February 2026 and marked the milestone publicly on October 6.
- The operation uses in-situ recovery, dissolving copper underground and processing it into finished cathode on site, without an open pit or waste rock piles.
- Full build-out reaches 85 million pounds of copper cathode a year across a 22-year mine life, with ramp-up continuing toward full capacity in early 2027.
- The launch follows a decade-long legal dispute with the town of Florence that ended in 2026 after courts twice sided with the company.
- An Arizona State University study projects more than 800 jobs and over $4 billion in state economic activity over the project’s life.
What is in-situ copper recovery?
Instead of blasting rock and hauling ore to a mill, Florence Copper injects a mild copper-dissolving solution underground into a naturally fractured, water-saturated ore body, then pumps the copper-rich fluid back to the surface. There, the solution is processed directly into copper cathode sheets, the same refined form a traditional smelter produces, without ever moving the rock itself. The company and independent reporting both point to meaningfully lower water and energy use per pound of copper than a conventional open-pit mine, since there is no blasting, crushing, or smelting involved. The method only works where the geology cooperates: Florence Copper sits on a deposit the company describes as naturally porous enough to let the extraction solution flow freely underground.
Why did it take Florence Copper so long to open?
The site produced its first test cathode back in 2019, but a commercial launch waited on permitting and a legal fight with the town of Florence that stretched back to 2012, when the town condemned company office buildings and later challenged the project’s permits over groundwater concerns. Arizona courts sided with Florence Copper in 2019 and again on appeal in 2021, citing mining rights under a 2003 development agreement, and the town withdrew its remaining claims this year. On the regulatory side, the EPA issued a Class III Underground Injection Control permit in 2023, Arizona’s own environmental agency took over permitting authority in October 2025, and the state reissued the permit in January 2026, clearing the way for the facility that opened this fall. Florence Mayor Keith Eaton struck a conciliatory note at the launch, saying the town’s greater resource was its residents rather than what sits underground.
What does this mean for Arizona’s copper supply?
Arizona already produces roughly 70 percent of the nation’s copper, mostly from large open-pit operations like Freeport-McMoRan’s Morenci complex. Florence Copper adds a different kind of supply to that total: a smaller-footprint operation that reached seven million pounds of cathode in the second quarter of 2026, a 36 percent jump from the prior quarter as more wells came online. Company leadership has highlighted that the cathode comes out finished on site, ready to ship straight into domestic manufacturing rather than needing further refining elsewhere. The ramp-up is ongoing, and the company expects to reach full production capacity in early 2027 rather than all at once.
What happens next at Florence Copper?
Florence Copper is still bringing wells online toward its 85-million-pound annual target, a process the company expects to finish in early 2027. Beyond the mine’s 22-year operating life, the in-situ method leaves a smaller physical footprint than a conventional pit, which the company says could allow parts of the site to be restored or repurposed once mining ends. For now, the near-term story is execution: turning a permit and a court victory into steady, full-capacity copper output.