Mining crews at Ivanhoe’s Kamoa-Kakula project in the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) delivered 409,000mt of copper ore in April 2021, up by 2pc from 400,000mt in the previous month.
The raw material output comprised 357,000mt of 5.7pc grade from the Kakula Mine, of which 121,000mt was high-grade 8.4pc, and 51,000mt was 5.85pc graded copper from Ivanhoe’s Kansoko Mine.
Copper production is slated to begin within a month, the company noted in Monday’s statement. This schedule is ahead of the July 2021 forecast from Ivanhoe’s earlier statement in April.
The site’s pre-production stockpiles are now up 17pc to 3mn mt at a blended average of 4.74pc copper in April from 2.56mn mt of 4.6pc graded copper in Mach. Phase 2 & 3 expansion plans are also on track according to previous estimates.
The Kamoa-Kakula project is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin Mining, with each holding 39.6pc share and Crystal River Global and the Government of DRC holding 0.8pc and 20pc, respectively.