Kamoa-Kakula’s production is expected to increase to more than 600,000 tonnes of copper per year.
Ivanhoe Mines achieved first concentrate production at the Phase 3 concentrator of the Kamoa-Kakula operation, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Phase 3 concentrator was completed almost two quarters ahead of schedule and is expected to increase Kamoa-Kakula production to more than 600,000 tonnes of copper per year once fully ramped up.
With a design capacity of 5 million tonnes per year, the capacity of the Phase 3 concentrator is 30% greater than that of the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators, which are located 10 km from the Phase site. 3.
The phase 1 and 2 concentrators produced 35,474 t of copper in May, marking the best performance in the last 12 months.
With the addition of the third concentrator, Kamoa-Kakula has become the third largest copper mining complex in the world, after Escondida in Chile and Grasberg in Indonesia. It is also the largest copper operation on the African continent.
Ivanhoe Mines shares fell 1.96% as of 12:30 p.m. EDT. The Vancouver-based copper miner has a market capitalization of 23.28 billion Canadian dollars ($20.56 billion).
