VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Following the release of a maiden resource statement for the Kakula discovery, which forms part of the larger Kamoa project, Africa-focused project developer Ivanhoe Mines has confirmed the Democratic Republic of Congo- (DRC-) based project as the largest copper discovery ever made on the continent.

The company on Wednesday published a technical report prepared by US-based firm Amec Foster Wheeler, outlining a compliant indicated resource totalling 192-million tonnes grading 3.45% copper, containing 14.6-billion pounds of the red metal at a 1% copper cutoff.

At a higher cutoff of 3% copper, Ivanhoe said, the discovery held indicated resources totalling 66-million tonnes grading 6.59% copper, containing 9.6-billion pounds of copper.

The project also holds inferred resources totalling 101-million tonnes at a grade of 2.74% copper, containing 6.1-billion pounds of copper at a 1% copper cutoff. At the higher cutoff of 3% copper, inferred resources totalled 27-million tonnes at a grade of 5.26% copper, containing 3.2-billion pounds of copper.

“With the initial resource now established, we are evaluating technical and infrastructure options to rapidly advance the development of the near-surface, highest-grade copper resources at Kakula. Our mine planning will focus on how to expeditiously develop the zones of thick, bottom-loaded chalcocite, grading in excess of 6% copper, near the centre of Kakula’s high-grade area.

“Given that the copper grades at Kakula are significantly higher than the average grades found elsewhere at Kamoa, we are highly confident that fast-tracking the development of Kakula will have a profound and positive impact on the economics of the overall Kamoa-Kakula project,” Ivanhoe executive chairperson Robert Friedland said.

According to the technical report, the average true thickness of the selective mineralised zone (SMZ) at a 1% cutoff is 14.27 m in the indicated resources area and 10.33 m in the inferred resources area. At a higher 3% cutoff, the average true thickness of the SMZ is 5.91 m in the indicated resources area and 5.15 m in the inferred resources area, the company stated.

Ivanhoe said the resource estimate was based on the results of about 24 000 m of drilling in 65 holes. A further 13 holes, totalling more than 7 000 m, have been completed and assay results are pending. Mineralisation is open along trend to the north-west and the south-east, while the remainder of the Kakula exploration area remains untested, providing significant potential for resource expansion.

Kakula is the second major discovery on the Kamoa mining licence in the past eight years. With the addition of Kakula’s mineral resource, UK-based industry research and consulting group Wood Mackenzie has independently demonstrated that the Kamoa-Kakula project is the largest copper discovery in Zambia and the DRC, making it the largest copper discovery ever made in the history of mining on the African continent. Wood Mackenzie research also shows that Kamoa-Kakula already ranks among the ten largest copper deposits in the world.

The 60 km² Kakula exploration area is about 10 km south-west of Kamoa’s initial mine development presently under way at the Kansoko Sud discovery.