TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining Group’s joint Kamoa-Kakula project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, produced 14 815 t of copper in August, bringing the year-to-date production to more than 36 700 t.
The company is ramping up the mine’s 3.8-million-tonne-a-year Phase 1 concentrator plant to reach nameplate steady state capacity, alongside a Phase 2 concentrator plant that is being built.
Ivanhoe confirms that construction on the second concentrator plant is about 44% complete and will be fully completed by the third quarter of next year.
The company also announces that six new turbines are operational at the Mwadingusha hydropower plant in the country and are supplying clean electricity for Kamoa-Kakula.
Kamoa Copper – the operating company – is fast-tracking the installation of an additional concentrate filter on the Phase 1 plant, which should enable the concentrator to produce more copper than its design capacity of about 200 000 t/y.
The mine is projected to produce between 80 000 t and 95 000 t of copper this year and, ultimately, to reach peak copper production of more than 800 000 t/y in due course.