Kamo-Kakula's Phase 1 processing plant
TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines has announced the start of hot commissioning of Phase 2 of its Kamoa-Kakula concentrator plant, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
First ore was introduced into the Phase 2 milling circuit on March 21, producing first copper concentrate successfully four months ahead of the development schedule.
The Phase 2 concentrator plant is identical to the 3.8-million-tonne-a-year Phase 1 plant, which started commercial production in July last year.
The Phase 2 plant was up and running less than ten months after the Phase 1 plant began operations and the project team can now focus on the Phase 3 expansion.
The Phase 3 concentrator plant is scheduled to begin operating by end-2024.
The company envisions a 19-million-tonne-a-year plant capacity operation at Kamoa-Kakula when the Phase 3 concentrator is completed.
"We now have successfully built the first two concentrator plants ahead of schedule and on budget.
“Given the experience gained by our operations team during the ramp-up of the Phase 1 plant, we anticipate the ramp-up of the Phase 2 plant will go even smoother.
“In addition, since the Phase 2 plant has started earlier than planned, we now expect to achieve the upper end of our copper production guidance for 2022, which currently is estimated at between 290 000 t and 340 000 t of copper in concentrate,” says Kamoa Copper CEO Mark Farren.
Ivanhoe will also soon start with an expansive drilling programme, totalling about 95 000 m.