Phase one production at Ivanhoe’s subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Kamoa Copper, may start earlier than July 2021 as the facility’s concentrator is 98pc complete.
Kamoa Copper had previously announced that Phase 1 production was on track, however, now it is ahead of schedule, according to media reports on Wednesday.
The 3.5mn mt per year C4 unit is slated to produce 400,000mt of copper annually in two phases. Kamoa Copper plans to increase capacity by 19mn mt per year in a phased manner.
Ivanhoe’s pre-production stockpiles across all facilities in the Kamoa-Kakula belt were 3mn mt in April 2021.
Kamoa Copper is a joint venture between Ivanhoe and Zijin with a 39.6pc share each. Crystal River and the DRC government hold 0.8pc and 20pc of the balance stake.