According to Mining News Pro - Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) saw its Kamoa-Kakula copper mining complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hit a new production record in the first quarter of this year, with 55,602 tonnes in the period.
The Canadian miner, which kicked off production at the asset last year, said the operation also reached a monthly all-time-high of 19,605 tonnes of copper produced in March.
Commercial production of the 3.8-million-tonne-a-year Phase 2 concentrator plant at Kamoa-Kakula was declared last week, Ivanhoe said. This pushed daily output to a fresh high on April 8, with 25,126 tonnes milled and 1,202 tonnes of copper produced.
The company is confident the early commissioning of the Phase 2 concentrator plant will enable Kamoa Copper to reach the upper end of its 2022 copper production guidance of 290,000 to 340,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate.
The Phase 3 expansion is also advancing, Ivanhoe said, with first copper production expected by the end of 2024.
Co-chairperson Robert Friedland, who made his fortune from the Voisey’s Bay nickel project in Canada in the 1990s, believes the complex will become the world’s second-largest copper mine with the highest grades among major operations.
The Vancouver-based company has also vowed to produce the industry’s “greenest” copper, as it works to become the first net-zero operational carbon emitter among the world’s top-tier copper producers. Friedland has not set a target date for achieving that goal.
CRU CESCO Ivanhoe Mines' Friedland sees logistics cost squeeze easing
High shipping costs have posed a "challenge" for Democratic Republic of Congo-focused copper producer Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), but an alternative route to port via Angola should ease the squeeze, co-Chairman Robert Friedland said on Wednesday.
"Worldwide shipping costs have gone crazy for everybody," Friedland told the CRU-CESCO World Copper Conference in Santiago. "It has posed a challenge, but we see that coming down and you can move the material, it just takes a bit longer."
Of the $1.28 a pound costs reported by the company for the last quarter of 2021, the cost of logistics for delivery to China accounted for $0.37, or 29%.
Ivanhoe, which operates the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in southern Congo's Lualaba province, currently trucks its output to the South African port of Durban.
It is now looking at using an alternative route through Angola to cut back on transportation costs, Friedland said.
"It's about a third of the distance and a new Angolan railroad is going to move us much closer to the ocean," he said.
Ivanhoe is working with its joint venture partner Zijin Mining to bring down costs, he added. "We see a lot of shipping alternatives to using containers," he said.
The cost of shipping containers has surged from pre-pandemic levels.
Kamoa-Kakula produced 105,884 tonnes of copper in concentrate last year.
Ivanhoe is "very interested" in expanding into the United States, Friedland said, adding that the country is under-explored and some places have "enormous" potential copper resources.
U.S. President Joe Biden has voiced support for new mines in the country to boost domestic production of minerals used in electric vehicles.
Ivanhoe Mines and Gécamines sign deal to redevelop DRC copper-zinc mine
Ivanhoe Mines and commodity firm Gécamines have signed a deal to return the Kipushi mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to production.
The firms will form a new joint venture (JV) to redevelop the Kipushi high-grade, underground zinc-copper mine in the Central African Copper belt.
The mine was placed on care and maintenance in 1993 due to economic and political factors.
Ivanhoe Mines purchased a 68% stake in the Kipushi Project in 2011. The remaining 32% interest is held by the DRC’s state-owned mining company Gécamines.
The redevelopment project, which is estimated to have a pre-production capital cost of $382m, will use the significant existing surface and underground infrastructure.
In accordance with a new feasibility study, the Kipushi is expected to have an operational life of 14 years.
Ivanhoe Mines executive co-chair Robert Friedland said: “The new agreement now allows us to responsibly, efficiently and expeditiously develop Kipushi into an ultra-high-grade zinc producer, with outstanding potential to find more zinc, copper, germanium and silver resources – paving the way to fulfilling its promise of significant, long-lasting, economic and social benefits for the Congolese people.”
The new agreement outlines the commercial terms and forms the basis of a commercial JV agreement between Ivanhoe and Gécamines.
Ivanhoe Mines said that the Kipushi project will be the highest-grade major zinc mine in the world.
It is expected to have an average grade of 36.4% zinc during the first five years of production.
Initial mining by the two firms at the Kipushi project will focus on the Big Zinc zone.
Gécamines CEO Bester-Hilaire Ntambwe Ngoy Kabongo said: “Gécamines sees in it the opportunity for an improved exploitation of the Big Zinc, the development of an integrated economic fabric and the imbedding of skills in the Haut-Katanga province.”
Based on drilling campaigns, Ivanhoe has upgraded and expanded the mine’s measured and indicated mineral resources to an estimated 11.78 million tonnes grading 35.34% zinc, 0.8% copper, 23 grams/tonne (g/t) silver and 64g/t germanium.
Last year, BHP Group was in talks with Ivanhoe Mines to acquire part of the Western Foreland exploration area in the DRC.