Name of the Project
Kamoa-Kakula copper project.

Location
The project is located in the Kolwezi district of Lualaba province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Project Owner/s
Ivanhoe Mines.

Project Description
Ivanhoe Mines has announced outstanding economic results in the independent integrated development plan (IDP) for the tier-one Kamoa-Kakula copper project.

The plan comprises three development scenarios: the Kakula definitive feasibility study (DFS), the Kakula-Kansoko prefeasibility study (PFS), and the Kamoa-Kakula preliminary economic assessment (PEA).

Kakula
The Kakula DFS proposes the development of a Stage 1, six-million-tonne-a-year underground mine and surface processing complex at the Kakula deposit, with a capacity of 7.6-million tonnes a year built in two modules of 3.8-million tonnes a year, with the first already under advanced construction. For this option, the DFS envisages average production of 284 000 t of copper over an estimated 21-year mine life.

Kakula will be mined primarily using the drift-and-fill method.

The Kakula 2020 DFS mine access will be through twin declines on the north side and a single decline on the south side of the deposit. One of the north declines will serve as the primary mine access, while the other decline is for the conveyor haulage system, which was recently commissioned.

The primary ore-handling system will include a perimeter conveyor system connected to truck load-out points along the north side of the deposit. The perimeter conveyor system will terminate at the main conveyor decline.

Kakula-Kansoko
The Kakula-Kansoko PFS evaluates mining 1.6-million tonnes a year from the Kansoko mine, in addition to six-million tonnes a year from Kakula, to feed a 7.6-million-tonne-a-year processing plant at Kakula. For this option, the PFS envisages average production of 331 000 t/y of copper over an average 37-year mine life.

Kamoa-Kakula
The Kamoa-Kakula PEA evaluates an integrated, multistaged development to achieve a 19-million-tonne-a-year production rate. Initial production will start from the proposed six-million-tonne-a-year Kakula mine, followed by separate underground mining operations at the nearby six-million-tonne-a-year Kansoko mines, the six-million-tonne-a-year Kakula West and one-million-tonne-a-year Kamoa North mine, along with the construction of a direct-to-blister smelter at the Kakula plant site that will be able to process one-million tonnes of copper concentrate a year.  

The Kamoa North Area comprises five separate mines, which will be sequentially developed as resources are depleted elsewhere, to maintain the production rate of up to 19-million tonnes a year over a mine life of more than 40 years.

Each mining operation is expected to be a separate underground mine, with a shared processing facility and surface infrastructure located at Kakula. Material will be transported to the Kakula processing complex using a system of overland conveyors. Included in this scenario is the construction of a direct-to-blister copper smelter with a capacity of one-million tonnes a year of copper concentrate.

The phased expansion scenario to 19-million tonnes a year would position Kamoa-Kakula as the world’s second-biggest copper mining complex, with peak copper production of more than 800 000 t/y.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The Kakula DFS yields an after-tax net present value (NPV), at an 8% discount rate, of $5.5-billion and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 77% over a 21-year mine life, with a payback of 2.3 years.

The Kakula-Kansoko PFS yields an after-tax NPV, at an 8% discount rate, of $6.6-billion and an IRR of 69% over a 37-year mine life, with a payback of 2.5 years.

The Kamoa-Kakula PEA yields a potential after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $11.1-billion, an IRR of 56% over a mine life of more than 40 years, with a payback of 3.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
The Kakula DFS estimates peak funding at $775-million, remaining initial capital costs at $646-million and expansion capital costs at $594-million.

The Kakula-Kansoko PFS estimates peak funding at $848-million, remaining initial capital costs at $695-million and expansion capital costs at $750-million.

The Kamoa-Kakula PEA estimates peak funding at $784-million, remaining initial capital costs at $715-million and expansion capital costs at $4.46-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Initial copper concentrate production from the Kakula project is scheduled for the third quarter of 2021.

The expansion of the Kakula processing plant will be brought forward from the first quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2022.

Latest Developments
Ivanhoe Mines is accelerating its Kamoa-Kakula expansion to prepare for an expected surge in copper demand that will outstrip supply.

The expansion of the Kakula processing plant from 3.8-million tonnes a year to 7.6-million tonnes a year will be brought forward from the first quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2022, the company on September 22, 2020.

To accelerate the project, the Kamoa-Kakula joint venture will order long-lead items, with a total commitment value of $100-million within the coming weeks, of which an estimated $25-million will be spent this year.

"There are many smart people in the mining industry who strongly believe that copper is quickly approaching a supply and demand divergence, where the amount of copper being produced globally will be far outstripped by demand," co-chairperson Robert Friedland has said.

"As such, we want to ensure that the Kamoa-Kakula operation reaches its near-term production potential as expeditiously as possible while . . . maintaining our strong balance sheet.

"Getting into the queue now for the critical long-lead-time items, such as the ball mills, costs very little up-front money and enhances our flexibility to quickly move ahead on the first of multiple planned expansions."

Ivanhoe has further reported that construction of Kakula's initial 3.8-million-tonne-a-year processing plant is well under way, with the remaining long-lead items already delivered to site, with the exception of the transformers, which are expected in October.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
DFS/PFS/PEA:
OreWin (overall report preparation, mining, logistics, power and economic analysis); China Nerin Engineering (smelter design); DRA Global (mine surface infrastructure and metallurgical processing); Epoch Resources (tailings storage facility design); Golder Associates (hydrology models and recommendations); KGHM Cuprum R&D Centre (Technical adviser on certain mining methods and geotechnical); Outotec Oyj (smelter technology); Paterson and Cooke (paste backfill plant design and surface/underground paste distribution system); SRK Consulting  (mine geotechnical recommendations); Stantec Consulting International, (mining and mineral reserves); and Wood (mineral resources estimation).

Contact Details for Project Information
Ivanhoe Mines, tel +1604 688 6630 (North America)/ +27 11 088 4300 (South Africa) or email info@ivanhoemines.com.