Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines recorded a number of important milestones in the first quarter ended March 31.

This included the early declaration of Phase 2 commercial copper production at the Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); the beginning of lateral mine development toward the high-grade Flatreef platinum group metals (PGMs) orebody at Platreef in South Africa; a new agreement to return the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc mine, in the DRC, to commercial production; and the initiation of an extensive regional drilling programme at the Western Foreland copper exploration project in the DRC.

Ivanhoe Mines recorded a profit of $21.5-million for the period, compared with a profit of $20.4-million for the same period in 2021.

Ivanhoe Mines' share of profit from the Kamoa-Kakula copper joint venture and finance income, totalling $115.4-million, were the principal contributors to the profit recorded in the first quarter.

The Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex set a new quarterly production record during the period, with 55 602 t of copper in concentrate produced. Commercial production from the Phase 2 concentrator was declared on April 7.

A debottlenecking programme is under way at Kamoa-Kakula to expand processing capacity of Phase 1 and Phase 2 concentrators by 21%, to a combined 9.2-million tonnes of ore a year.

Copper production from Kamoa Copper's first two phases is projected to exceed 450 000 t/y by the second quarter of 2023.

Kamoa-Kakula's cost of sales per pound of payable copper sold was $1.08/lb for the quarter, while cash costs (C1) totalled $1.21/lb, compared with $1.12/lb and $1.28/lb, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2021.

During the period under review, Kamoa-Kakula sold 51 919 t of payable copper and recognised record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $399.4-million and revenue of $519.6-million, with an operating profit of $380.5-million.

On May 3, Ivanhoe announced details of the Phase 3 expansion at Kamoa-Kakula, which will include an additional five-million-tonne-a-year concentrator adjacent to new underground mines at Kamoa – named Kamoa 1 and Kamoa 2.

Phase 3 will increase total processing capacity to more than 14-million tonnes of ore a year and grow annualised copper production to about 600 000 t by the fourth quarter of 2024.

This production level will elevate Kamoa-Kakula to the world's third-largest copper mining complex, and the largest copper mining complex in Africa.

Ivanhoe has a strong balance sheet with cash and cash equivalents of $562-million as at period end, and expects that Kamoa-Kakula's expansion capital for Phase 2 and Phase 3 will be funded from copper sales and facilities at Kamoa.

During the quarter, Ivanhoe started a regional drilling programme, which is expected to total about 95 000 m, targeting Kamoa-Kakula-style copper mineralisation on its Western Foreland licences.

Exploration models that successfully led to the discoveries of Kakula, Kakula West and the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone on the Kamoa-Kakula joint venture mining licence are being applied to the extensive Western Foreland land package by the team of exploration geologists responsible for the previous discoveries.

On May 9, Ivanhoe announced the completion of the Platreef project's Shaft 1 changeover to a production shaft, as well as the first blast on the 950 m level, which marked the beginning of lateral mine development toward the high-grade Flatreef PGMs, nickel, copper and gold orebody.

In February, Ivanhoe announced the outstanding results of a new independent feasibility study for the Platreef project that builds on the alternate scenario to expedite production, based on a steady-state production rate of 5.2-million tonnes a year, confirming the viability of a new phased-development pathway to fast-track Platreef into production in the third quarter of 2024.

Also in February, Ivanhoe and Gécamines signed a new agreement to return the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc mine back to commercial production.

Ivanhoe announced the positive findings of an independent feasibility study for the planned resumption of commercial production at Kipushi based on a two-year construction timeline.

On May 2, Ivanhoe issued its fifth yearly Sustainability Report, highlighting the company's commitment to becoming a global environmental, social and governance leader in mining.