Name and Location
Kipushi mine rehabilitation and redevelopment project, Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Client
Kipushi Corporation, in which Ivanplats acquired a 68% share in 2011.

Project Description
The Kipushi project is based on the high-grade, underground zinc/copper mine in the Central African Copperbelt, which mined an estimated 60-million tonnes grading 11% zinc and 7% copper between 1924 and 1993. In addition to producing copper and zinc, the mine produced 12 673 t of lead and about 278 t of germanium between 1956 and 1978. The mine has been managed on a care and maintenance basis since 1993. The mine was flooded in early 2011 owing to a lack of pump maintenance over an extended period.

Ivanplats is dewatering the Kipushi mine to access the original workings, known as the Fault Ore. An additional deposit has been identified at a level below the original workings. Gécamines discovered the Big Zinc deposit before 1993 and the deposit remains unmined. Historical estimates of the Big Zinc's resources between the mine's 1 295m- and 1 500-m-levels total 4.7-million tonnes averaging 39% zinc and 0.76% copper.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The value of the project is still to be determined.

Duration
The timeframe for the project is still to be determined.

Latest Developments
High-grade silver, zinc and copper drill intercepts have been reported in the third batch of assay results from Ivanhoe’s underground diamond-drilling programme at its Kipushi mine.

The results include those from the first hole, KPU040, drilled through the historical Big Zinc zone from the hanging-wall drill drift on the 1 272 m level, which provides the geometry for near-true-width intercepts.

“Our discovery of high-grade copper/zinc/silver mineralisation with significant gold and germanium values within the Big Zinc zone confirms our hypothesis that copper zones, which also are rich in precious metals, exist within the deep, unmined portions of the Kipushi mine,” says Ivanhoe executive chairperson Robert Friedland.

These zones now present new and compelling targets for the company’s ongoing exploration, which will continue to test for extensions to the Big Zinc zone and the newly discovered high-grade precious metals mineralisation.

Currently, two diamond drill rigs continue on confirmatory drilling of the Big Zinc zone from the hanging-wall drill drift on the 1 272 m level, with deep drilling planned to test for depth extensions.

Meanwhile, Ivanhoe CEO Lars-Eric Johansson has noted that the Big Zinc zone is also sulphur rich.

“[This] also represents a potentially significant value addition, given the scarcity of primary sulphur supply in the Copperbelt region and the demand for acid in conventional in-country oxide recovery circuits,” he states.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
MDM (scoping study).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Ivanplats investor relations, Bill Trenaman, tel +1 604 688 6630 or email billtr@ivancorp.net.
MDM, tel +27 11 993 4300.
MSA Group, tel +27 11 880 4209, fax +27 11 880 2184 or email info@msagroupservices.com.