Trekor Metals (TSX, LSE: TKO; NYSE-A: TGB) says production at its Florence copper mine in Arizona must accelerate threefold in the second half of the year for the operation to meet its target of producing at least 30 million lb. of copper.

The company's leadership maintains that the Florence operation is positioned to ramp up materially over the remainder of the year, despite the need for a substantial increase in output to reach the stated annual production goal. Florence, located in Pinal County, Arizona, is a copper project that uses in-situ recovery (ISR) technology to extract copper without conventional drilling-and-blasting or large-scale open-pit excavation. The ISR method, more commonly associated with uranium extraction, remains relatively rare in copper production, and Florence's performance is being watched as a commercial-scale test of the technology's viability for the red metal.

Florence's ramp-up comes amid growing U.S. policy focus on domestic critical minerals supply. Copper is designated a critical mineral by the U.S. Geological Survey, and federal initiatives have aimed to reduce import reliance for materials central to electrification, grid modernization, and defense applications. The Florence project has progressed through a multi-year permitting and development cycle under both state and federal regulatory frameworks.

Source: The Northern Miner