Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines reported a 250,000mt increase in its Kakula mine ore stockpile in November, 29pc higher than October, while its average copper grade increased to 4.85pc.
On Nov 11, the company connected the northern and southern access tunnels to the mine, by means of which it can now reach the high-grade 8pc ore body. Ivanhoe indicated it now holds 1.25mn mt in its copper ore stockpile, containing more than 46,700mt of the red metal. Production at this mine is planned to start in July 2021.
Construction activity of the mine and mill have now reached 63pc completion. According to the mine plan, Ivanhoe will process 3mn mt of ore, containing about 125,000mt of copper metal when production begins. The miner also said that it plans to double the annual capacity of its concentrator mill to 7mn mt by Q3 2022 in Phase 2 of its development, compared with the planned 3.6mn mt per year capacity for 2021.