Kamoa-Kakula's adjacent Phase 1 and 2 concentrator plants
The 3.8-million-tonne-a-year Phase 2 concentrator plant at TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines’ Kamoa-Kakula project is now 70% complete and on track to start operations in the second quarter of 2022.
Ivanhoe co-chairpersons Robert Friedland and Yufeng “Miles” Sun on December 9 said the 3.8-million-tonne-a-year Phase 1 concentrator plant is operating at steady-state design capacity and that, as a result, Ivanhoe's 2021 production guidance for contained copper in concentrate produced from Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 1 concentrator is between 92 500 t and 100 000 t.
They explained that the higher guidance numbers were reinforced by the production performance in November, which resulted in a record 18 270 t of copper in concentrate produced, bringing year-to-date output to more than 87 000 t as at November 30.
Details of Kamoa-Kakula's full-year copper production, as well as guidance for 2022 copper production, cost of sales and cash costs, including the start of Phase 2 operations, will be provided in January.
About 357 000 t of ore was milled in November at an average feed grade of 6.18% copper, exceeding the monthly design run rate of 316 667 t by more than 12%.
Copper flotation recoveries averaged 85.4% in November.
The Phase 1, steady-state design copper recovery is about 86%, depending on ore feed grade.