Construction has started at the Kipushi zinc mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), paving the way for the historic mine to return to production by late 2024 – a century since the mine was first opened and 30 years since it was placed on care and maintenance.

Canadian company Ivanhoe Mines and its joint venture partner, State-owned Gecamines, recently hosted a breaking-ground ceremony to commemorate the start of construction of the processing plant at the mine, which will produce zinc, copper, germanium and silver.

"It is with great satisfaction we now see the path toward the revival of this historic mine. Kipushi started production almost 100 years ago in 1924, and I believe today is a sign of things to come," said DRC Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde.

With existing infrastructure to lean on, Kipushi has a preproduction capital cost of $382-million and a relatively short timeline of two years, with the principal development activities being the construction of a conventional concentrator facility and supporting infrastructure, together with the restart of mining activities underground.

Financing and offtake discussions, including a pre-payment facility of $250-million, are “well advanced with several interested parties”, TSX-listed Ivanhoe reported on Monday.

“We now have our sights clearly set on the restart of production in 2024. The re-birth of the historic Kipushi mine will be a great achievement for Ivanhoe Mines, our partners and shareholders, and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” commented Ivanhoe president Marna Cloete.

The Kipushi mine will produce an average of 240 000 t/y of zinc contained in concentrate at C1 cash costs of $0.65/lb.

At a zinc price of $1.40/lb, the after-tax net present value, at an 8% real discount rate, is $1.4-billion, with an after-tax real internal rate of return of 54%. The current spot zinc price is $1.46/lb.

The mine is located less than a kilometre from the DRC-Zambia border, which will be the gateway for Kipushi’s products to global export markets.

Ivanhoe and the Haut-Katanga province are investigating the possibility of building a dedicated, commercial border post for the Kipushi mine, together with the upgrading of the existing border post in the town of Kipushi, which currently serves local traffic between the DRC and Zambia.

A new commercial border crossing will offer Kipushi a direct means of importing materials and consumables, as well as clearing customs and exporting products from the mine.

The opening of the Kipushi border crossing also is anticipated to provide ancillary benefits to Kamoa-Kakula, where work is under way to improve processes for clearing copper products for export and to open alternative export border crossings between the DRC and Zambia, in order to alleviate congestion at the existing border crossings at Kasumbalesa and Sakania in Haut-Katanga province.