The mineral deposit type at the Florence Copper site is an extensive, Laramide type of porphyry copper deposit consisting of a large core of copper sulfide mineralization underlying a zone of copper oxide mineralization. The central portion of the deposit is overlain by approximately 400 feet of flat-lying conglomerate and alluvial material that contains a fine-grained silt and clay interbed. The oxide and sulfide zones are separated from one another by a transition zone ranging on average from 0 to 55 feet in thickness. The depth and grade of the sulfide zone renders it currently uneconomic to mine by conventional mining methods. The impermeability and mineralization of the sulfide zone renders it uneconomic for ISCR methods.

Approximately 71% of the oxide mineralization is hosted by a Precambrian quartz monzonite and 26% by Tertiary granodiorite porphyry. The remaining igneous rocks associated with the deposit are Precambrian diabase and Tertiary andesite, latite, dacite, basalt, and aplite. The deposit occurs in a structural horst block, which is bounded on the east and west by grabens and is controlled by normal faults trending north to northwest.

The deposit type is a typical southwestern U.S. porphyry copper deposit. The United States Geological Survey classification of the porphyry copper mineralization at the Florence deposit is model 21a (porphyry Cu-Mo). This model type is described as stockwork veinlets of quartz, chalcopyrite, and molybdenite ........

Florence Copper is located in a serviced area within the town of Florence, Arizona. The site has, or has access in close proximity, to the supporting infrastructure required for the planned ISCR operations including road access, rail access, power, water and natural gas.

The mining method proposed for the Florence Copper Project (FCP) is the in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) method.

In-situ recovery extracts the target element or mineral in a deposit by passing a process solution containing a lixiviant through the mineral deposit, and consequently does not require many of the activities typically associated with mining.

The ISCR process selected for the FCP involves the installation of injection and recovery wells to pass a weak sulfuric acid solution, called raffinate, through targeted portions of the mineral deposit. The raffinate passes through natural fractures and voids in the deposit and dissolves the copper mineralization. The copper laden solution, known as pregnant leach solution (“PLS”), is collected in recovery wells where it is pumped to the surface for processing by solvent extraction and electrowinning (“SX/EW”). The SX/EW plant selectively removes copper from the PLS producing raffinate solution to be recirculated to the well field and copper cathode product.

Sweep efficiency is a term used to define the percentage of the mineralized material body contacted by injected solutions within a given injection and recovery ........

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