Name and Location
Kipushi zinc/copper mine redevelopment project, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Client
The project is operated by Kipushi Corporation (KICO), a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (68%) and State-owned mining company Gécamines (32%).

Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of the project focuses on the mining of Kipushi’s Big Zinc zone, which has an estimated 10.2-million tonnes of measured and indicated mineral resources grading 34.9% zinc.

Life-of-mine average planned zinc concentrate production is estimated at 530 000 dry tonnes a year, with a concentrate grade of 53% zinc.

This is expected to rank Kipushi, once in production, among the world’s major zinc mines.

The planned mining method is a combination of sublevel open stoping (SLOS), pillar retreat and cut-and-fill methods at a steady-state mining rate of 1.1-million tonnes.

The PEA envisages the primary mining method for the Big Zinc zone being SLOS, with cemented rock backfill. The crown pillars are expected to be mined once adjacent stopes are backfilled using a pillar retreat mining method. The Big Zinc zone is expected to be accessed using the existing decline and without significant new development. The main levels are planned to be at 60 m vertical intervals, with sublevels at 30 m intervals.

The cut-and-fill mining method has been identified to extract the copper zone outside the Big Zinc zone – mining occurs in horizontal slices, with the blasted copper material removed from the stopes, then crushed underground and sold at the mine gate.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% real discount rate, of $759-million and an internal rate of return of 36.4%, with an pretax project payback period of 2.1 years.

Value
Preproduction capital, including contingency, is estimated at $409-million.

Duration
None stated.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
OreWin and the MSA Group (PEA).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Ivanhoe Mines, Jeremy Michaels, tel +27 11 088 4300 or email jeremy.michaels@ivanplats.com.