The Vancouver-based miner also anticipates receiving the first $10 million of the $50 million Mitsui earmarked in December for the project’s development later this month.
Construction activities to date have been mainly focused on site preparations, earthworks and civil work for the commercial wellfield, which Taseko expects to start drilling in February.
The company also plans to sign a fixed-price contract with TIC Kiewit as general contractor for building the SX/EW plant and related surface infrastructure. All the major plant components are already onsite and the construction will begin in the second quarter of this year, Taseko said.
Chief executive Stuart McDonald said the company is “eager” to ramp up the construction activities at Florence, which will soon become “a major new source of low-carbon copper cathode for the US market.”
The project, being built with in situ recovery rather than conventional open pit…
