Company withdraws Florence copper rezoning proposal

Curis Resources has withdrawn its request to the City of Florence to rezone its property to allow an in situ copper recovery project to begin on private lands, according to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal. They say company CEO Mike McPhie argues "the timetable for the mine’s development is still the same, but his company wants to get environmental permit approvals first from the U.S. EPA and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality before asking Florence for zoning approvals." [right, in situ model. Credit, Curis Resources]

The copper project has pitted large land owners and real estate developers against the copper company, with residents bombarded with conflicting claims about possible groundwater pollution, taxes, jobs, and forecasts about eventual residential and commercial development of lands around the copper site.