Thursday, April 19, 2012

Florence copper economic benefit of $2.2 billion


A study of the proposed Florence in situ copper project by the William Seidmen Research Institute at ASU projects a total economic impact of $2.245 billion, with over $1 billion of that in Pinal County. The study notes that copper workers make 44% higher salary than the state average and that 36% of the homes in the town of Florence are unoccupied. [Right, cross section of project. Credit, Curis Resources]
Conclusions in the ASU Economic Impact Study as listed in a news release from Curis Resources, include, :
* The project will create and support an annual average of 681 Arizona jobs over the duration of the three phases of development activity
* New jobs created are expected to support head-of-household wages, with an industry average of 44 percent more than other Arizona industry jobs.
* Two out of three jobs can be sourced from workers in Pinal County.
* Personal income for Pinal County residents will rise by $709 million.
* Arizona governments will collect approximately $325 million in taxes and royalties.
The report says "the Florence Copper property hosts a deposit that lies between 400 – 800 feet below the surface, with measured and indicated oxide mineral resources of 429.5 million tons grading 0.331% total copper (at a 0.05% total copper cutoff) and containing 2.84 billion pounds of copper.

Due to the presence of soluble copper oxide mineralization, extensively fractured bedrock, and groundwater conditions that allow for both copper recovery and groundwater protection, the Florence Copper Project site is considered to be highly amenable to in-situ copper recovery methods."

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