Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE/TSX:IE) has completed a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Santa Cruz Copper Project, defining a “high-quality” underground mining operation with “strong” economics capable of producing pure copper cathode onsite for US consumption.
The Santa Cruz Copper Project, located in the heart of Arizona, a state known for its prolific mining history and booming technology industry, is poised to become one of the nation’s next major domestic producers of refined copper.
CEO Taylor Melvin says the advanced Santa Cruz Copper Project will be a significant long-term US producer of copper cathode to help meet domestic demand.
“We are fortunate to have such a high-quality copper asset on private land with excellent infrastructure in Arizona, a state with a rich mining history and a bright mining future,” Melvin says.
Executive Chairman Robert Friedland adds that Ivanhoe Electric will produce pure American copper mined and processed in America, and shipped directly from Arizona for use in American homes, factories and the national defence industry, stating “Santa Cruz is the right project, in the right place, at the right time”.
“Santa Cruz will mine the largest high-grade copper oxide orebody in America…which will be processed onsite by a new generation of skilled and highly paid American workers”, Friedland says.
Since the project’s 2023 initial assessment, the company has invested more than US$100 million ($153.9 million) in new drilling, advanced testwork and extensive engineering studies to produce the PFS, released on 23 June 2025.
According to the PFS, the project has a probable mineral reserve of 136 million tonnes @ 1.08% copper totalling 1.5 million tonnes of contained copper, which supports a 23-year mine life.
Santa Cruz also includes 183 million tonnes @ 0.81% copper in indicated resources, exclusive of mineral reserves, totalling a further 1.5 million tonnes of contained copper.
Of these indicated resources, approximately 0.8 million tonnes of the contained copper are amenable to the leaching flowsheet used in the PFS and represent near-mine expansion potential.
At the Texaco deposit, approximately 1 kilometre to the northeast of the Santa Cruz deposit, a further 422 million tonnes @ 0.79% copper in inferred resources are present and, subject to further drilling and testwork, may represent longer-term expansion potential.
Subject to project permitting and financing, Ivanhoe Electric anticipates it can begin initial construction in H1 2026 and first copper cathode production in 2028.
The PFS outlines that Santa Cruz will have a mining rate of 20,000 tonnes per day using longhole stoping and leveraging modern mining technology. Santa Cruz is expected to produce an estimated average of 72,000 tonnes of copper cathode annually during the first 15 years of mining, which Ivanhoe Electric says makes it one of the largest copper mines in the US.
Melvin says the project team’s efforts have resulted in a highly engineered underground mine plan and a simplified heap leach process design with low initial capital, low unit operating costs and high copper recoveries.
Ivanhoe Electric notes that the conventional on/off-heap leaching lowers operating costs and initial surface capital, while yielding high copper recoveries of 92.2% over the life of mine, with very low net acid consumption and allowing spent ore to be used underground as paste backfill.
The initial project capital is forecast to be US$1.24 billion ($1.92 billion), with a capital intensity of US$17,000 per tonne of copper.
Ivanhoe Electric says at the base case of US$4.25 per pound of copper, the post-tax net present value is US$1.4 billion with an internal rate of return of 20%. Meanwhile, at the current US COMEX commodity exchange spot copper price of US$4.83 per pound, the post-tax net present value increases to US$1.9 billion with an internal rate of return of 24%.
Ivanhoe Electric says this is the final technical study to support ongoing project financing discussions.
Project financing efforts are already underway. Ivanhoe Electric is pursuing multiple avenues of funding, including support from US government agencies, commercial lending institutions, and potential strategic partners at the asset level.
On 15 April 2025, Ivanhoe Electric received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States outlining the potential to provide up to US$825 million in debt financing.
The Santa Cruz Copper Project covers 5,975 acres on private land and includes associated water and mineral rights. The project is located in Casa Grande Arizona, 40 miles southeast of Phoenix, and at the heart of a rapidly growing industrial corridor with readily available power and transportation infrastructure and a skilled local workforce.
More than 35 million tonnes of copper has been produced in Arizona since 1980 — totalling 65% of the total US copper production.
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Images: Ivanhoe Electric
