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Copper production from leftover ore at the Johnson Camp Mine in Cochise County has begun and has already netted $4.6 million for the Tucson mining company.

The president and CEO of Tucson-based Nord Resources Corp., John Perry, is awaiting Arizona Department of Environmental Quality permits for dust emissions, so new mining can begin.

But since February, the company has sold 1.2 million pounds of copper from already-mined ore left at the 3,000-acre site just east of Texas Canyon, between Benson and Willcox. Mining last occurred there in 1997.

Construction of a crusher to break the ore-laden rocks is expected to begin next week, Perry said.

Once the copper ore is extracted, the mine's colorful rocks are sold as decorative pieces for landscaping.

This type of rock also does not require smelting and refining. Instead, the copper ore is collected using a method known as solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW).

The process of chemical treatments, mixing and electroplating is weeks long and takes the mineral from rock to liquid to metal. The entire operation is at the Johnson Camp and produces 75- to 100-pound copper cathodes of 99.9 percent pure copper, said Eric Ivey, the mine's general manager.

Nord will invest $34 million to reactivate the mine, which was purchased in 1999 and put back into production this year.

Perry hopes to start new mining activity on the two pits by the first of the year and produce 25 million pounds of copper a year at the site.

Nord will use contract mining companies to mine and haul the rock; Nord staff will oversee the rest of the process, he said. About 70 Nord staffers and 30 contract employees will work at the mine.

Based on geological studies, Perry said, the mine has a life expectancy of 16 years.