Tag Archives: Democratic Republic of Congo

Kamoa-Kakula copper production kicks off

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Ivanhoe Mines has announced the start of copper concentrate production at the Phase 1, 3.8 Mt/y Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, several months ahead of schedule.

First ore was introduced into the concentrator plant on May 20 to perform initial hot commissioning tests on the ball mills and other processing equipment. The initial mill feed grade reached approximately 4% Cu shortly after start-up.

As of May 25, 5-6% Cu ore was being conveyed directly from Kakula’s underground mining operations to the run-of-mine stockpile and the concentrator. Based on extensive test work, the concentrator is expected to produce a very high-grade, clean concentrate grading approximately 57% Cu, with extremely low arsenic levels, the company says.

Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Mines Co-Chairman, said: “This is a historic moment for Ivanhoe Mines and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Discovering and delivering a copper province of this scale, grade and outstanding environmental, social and governance credentials, ahead of schedule and on budget, is a unicorn in the copper mining business. This accomplishment reflects the outstanding cooperation of thousands of individuals, and all of our joint-venture partners at Kamoa-Kakula.”

He added: “Although this exploration journey started well over two decades ago, it also is noteworthy that the Kakula deposit itself was discovered a little over five years ago, which is remarkable progress by the mining industry’s glacial standards from first drill hole to a new major mining operation.”

The initiation of production puts Ivanhoe on the path to establish Kamoa-Kakula as the second largest copper mining complex in the world, according to Friedland.

“What really excites our geologists is the profound potential to find additional Kamoa-Kakula-like copper discoveries on our massive Western Foreland exploration licences right next door, in an identical geologic setting,” he said.

Co-Chairman, Miles Sun, added: “The inception of Phase 1 is the birth of a copper complex that will benefit generations to come, and we very much look forward to the upcoming phases of expansion and exploration opportunities.

“Huge congratulations to the entire Ivanhoe Mines team and a roaring applause to all the hard-working suppliers and contractors for collectively completing this mammoth undertaking!”

Ivanhoe’s guidance for contained copper in concentrate expected to be produced by the Kamoa-Kakula project for the balance of 2021 assumes a ramp-up from first production in line with published technical disclosures, with contained copper in concentrate output of 80,000-95,000 t.

In April, the Kakula Mine mined 357,000 t of ore grading 5.7% Cu, including 121,000 t grading 8.4% Cu from the mine’s high-grade centre.

Kakula, Ivanhoe says, is projected to be the world’s highest-grade major copper mine, with an initial mining rate of 3.8 Mt/y, ramping up to 7.6 Mt/y in the September quarter of 2022. Phase 1 is expected to produce approximately 200,000 t/y of copper, and phases 1 and 2 combined are forecast to produce approximately 400,000 t/y of copper.

Based on independent benchmarking, the project’s phased expansion scenario to 19 Mt/y would position Kamoa-Kakula as the world’s second-largest copper mining complex, with peak annual copper production of more than 800,000 t.

Given the current copper price environment, Ivanhoe and its partner Zijin are exploring the acceleration of the Kamoa-Kakula Phase 3 concentrator expansion from 7.6 Mt/y to 11.4 Mt/y, which may be fed from expanded mining operations at Kansoko, or new mining areas at Kamoa North (including the Bonanza Zone) and Kakula West.

The Kamoa-Kakula copper project is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Ltd (0.8%) and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (20%).

Alongside this announcement, the company confirmed that Kamoa Copper had appointed Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) CONGO SA, an accredited laboratory service provider, for on-site analytical services. SGS is one of the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification companies. The new assay laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.

Results for various mine, exploration and processing sample types will be reported using a wide range of analytical techniques that are specifically selected to provide accurate and precise results within the time required to efficiently control concentrator and mine processes.

Process control samples will be analysed using portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) devices with a quick turnaround time for concentrator plant monitoring and control. Metal accounting samples will be analysed by using two simultaneous ICP-OES multi-element instruments. The dual measurement mode of the ICP-OES instrumentation enables the analysis of critical elements such as mercury, arsenic, lead, etc by providing high measurement sensitivity while the combination of two-sample digestion methods (fusion and acid digestion) will cover a wide range of analytic levels, Ivanhoe said.

The high-grade copper samples will be analysed using the classical iodide titration method, which provides good accuracy and precision that is required for the dispatch samples, the company said. Convenient and flexible potentiometric auto titrators provide efficient and accurate results that are fully traceable to international methods and standards.

Zest WEG signs up Panaco to grow footprint in key DRC mining hub

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Zest WEG, in an effort to strengthen its Africa footprint, has appointed Panaco as its value-added reseller (VAR) in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

According to Zest WEG’s Africa Business Development Executive, Taylor Milan, Panaco is a 100% locally-owned business that has successfully serviced the region, known for mining, for over 40 years.

“Panaco is a well-established and respected company with strong business relationships with nearly all of our current clients,” Milan said. “Its business methodology and culture are closely aligned with ours, and this synergy will aid us in supporting our current installed base, client network and growth expectations.”

Milan highlighted the increasing importance of local content in the supply of equipment and services across the continent. Therefore, Zest WEG has prioritised closer partnerships with local firms as a key element of its sustainable growth strategy in Africa, a strategy Zest WEG Group CEO, Siegfried Kreutzfeld, mentioned shortly after being appointed to the role in 2019.

Milan also emphasised the importance of VARs in this strategy.

“Going beyond the role of just a distributor, a VAR is a local business chosen to promote and support the wide range of Zest WEG’s offering,” he said. “It carries the whole Zest WEG brand into local markets.

“Panaco has the ability to assist us in growing the comprehensive WEG product portfolio well beyond our traditional low-voltage motor and drive business,” he said. “It has business facilities in Lubumbashi, Kolwezi and Kinshasa – bringing our services and support closer to customers in this fast-growing region.”

The VAR partnership will provide locally accessible support and skills, substantial stockholding, and quality products at competitive pricing, the company said. It will also build strong and service-oriented customer relationships, according to Milan.

Zest WEG has also appointed DRC firm AEMI as a WEG-accredited repair facility, after AEMI successfully met its OEM standards. The company has a full repair facility in Likasi, and another in Kinshasa.

GR Engineering to lead Manono lithium-tin DFS in DRC

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GR Engineering Services (GRES) is to act as engineer for the definitive feasibility study on AVZ Minerals’ 60%-owned Manono lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Australia-listed developer said.

GRES, based in Perth, Western Australia, is an engineering group with significant experience in study management and the engineering design and construction of resource projects in Western Australia and globally, both as EPCM and EPC contractor, AVZ said.

Manono, meanwhile, was recently the subject of a scoping study. This study showed a 5Mt/y project could produce around 1.1 Mt/y of concentrate at a minimum of 5.8% Li2O concentrate.

AVZ said: “The GRES team nominated for this engagement have appropriate experience in Africa, including in the DRC, where GRES recently provided operational support and optimisation studies at the Kipoi copper project (Tiger Resources).

AVZ’s Managing Director, Nigel Ferguson, said: “The appointment of GRES as the DFS engineer is a significant milestone for the Manono project as its work is highly regarded by leading financiers and lending institutions.”

Other DFS work streams are continuing to schedule including the metallurgical test work, AVZ noted. A 1 t sub-sample of the bulk sample has been sent to ALS Minerals in Perth for comminution testwork, with results from this expected soon.

The dewatering program for the Roche Dure pit has commenced. Approval to dewater the Roche Dure and M’Pete open pits was given to AVZ’s DRC management company, Dathcom Mining SAS, in mid-May by the Mines Environmental Protection, a section of the DRC Department of Mines. The approval was contingent on the building of a silt settlement pond and a water treatment facility into the existing dewatering channel, which has since been completed.

DRA Global moves from PFS to basic engineering at Kakula copper project

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DRA Global has been awarded the contract for basic engineering services on the Kakula mine portion of the wider Kamoa-Kakula project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The contract scope includes the basic engineering and design associated with all underground mining infrastructure, the concentrator plant and all supporting surface infrastructure.

Kamoa Copper SA, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin Mining Group and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, will develop the new copper mine, which is expected to yield an estimated 6 Mt/y in its first phase alone.

The Kakula deposit has been independently ranked as the world’s largest, undeveloped, high yield, high-grade copper discovery, according to DRA, with a resource measuring 174 Mt at an average grade of 5.62% Cu.

DRA’s project delivery relationship with Ivanhoe Mines started on the high-grade platinum-group metals, nickel and copper Platreef project in South Africa. “It was on this project that DRA demonstrated its experienced capability in project delivery which proved to be a key differentiator for the organisation on Kakula,” DRA said.

DRA was contracted to complete the prefeasibility study (PFS) for Kamoa Copper SA, in 2017. In October 2018, DRA was further awarded the contract to deliver a complete basic engineering package. Work began in October and is estimated to conclude by mid-2019.

In addition to the basic engineering, DRA offers continued support on the early works, which includes equipping the main declines with dewatering and conveyor systems, ventilation shafts and associated surface infrastructure.

Alistair Hodgkinson, DRA Executive Vice President, Projects, said: “The team working on this project has gone above and beyond to meet deadlines and exceed client expectations ultimately to ensure that this signature project starts producing as soon as possible.”

Earlier this month, Ivanhoe Mines revealed the prefeasibility study for an initial 6 Mt/y copper mine at Kakula, in addition to an updated preliminary economic assessment combining both Kakula and Kamoa into an 18 Mt/y operation.

Ivanhoe Kamoa-Kakula studies reveal plan for world’s second largest copper mine

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Ivanhoe Mines has released the prefeasibility study for an initial 6 Mt/y copper mine at the Kakula deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in addition to an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) combining both Kakula and Kamoa into an 18 Mt/y operation.

The Kakula deposit is in the southerly portion of the Kamoa-Kakula project’s discovery area and would form the first of three deposits to be mined in the 18 Mt/y scenario.

For the 6 Mt/y Kakula option, the PFS envisages an average annual production rate of 291,000 t of copper at a mine-site cash cost of $0.46/ Ib ($1,014/t) of copper and total cash cost of $1.11/lb copper for the first 10 years of operations. Annual copper production would step up to 360,000 t by year four, the company said.

This option came with an initial capital cost of $1.1 billion and would result in an after-tax net present value (8% discount) of $5.4 billion factoring in an average copper price of $3.10/lb.

Ivanhoe said Kakula would benefit from an ultra-high, average feed grade of 6.8% Cu over the first five years of operations, and 5.5% Cu on average over a 25-year mine life.

Basic engineering for the project is already underway and is expected to be completed around mid-year, running in parallel with a definitive feasibility study expected to be completed around year-end, Ivanhoe said.

“Development of twin underground declines has been completed at Kakula, with ongoing underground development activities, including access drives and ventilation raises. In addition, a box cut for a ventilation decline on the southern side of the Kakula orebody is nearing completion,” the company added.

The updated Kamoa-Kakula 2019 PEA presents the alternative development option of a three-phase, sequential operation on Kamoa-Kakula’s copper deposits (pictured below).

Initial production would occur at a rate of 6 Mt/y from the Kakula mine, before increasing to 12 Mt/y with mill feed from the Kansoko mine. A third 6 Mt/y mine would then be developed at Kakula West, bringing the total production rate to 18 Mt/y.

“As resources at Kakula and Kansoko are mined, the PEA envisages that production would begin at several mines in the Kamoa North area to maintain 18 Mt/y throughput over a 37-year mine life,” Ivanhoe said.

For this option, the PEA envisages $1.1 billion in initial capital costs, with future expansion at the Kansoko Mine, Kakula West Mine and subsequent extensions funded by cash flows from the Kakula mine. This resulted in an after-tax NPV (8% discount) of $10 billion using the same long-term copper price of $3.10/Ib.

Under this approach, the PEA also includes the construction of a direct-to-blister flash copper smelter at the Kakula plant site with a capacity of 1 Mt/y of copper concentrate to be funded from internal cash flows. This would be completed in year five of operations, achieving significant savings in treatment charges and transportation costs, according to the company.

The 18 Mt/y scenario would deliver average annual production of 382,000 t of copper at a total cash cost of $0.93/lb copper during the first 10 years of operations and production of 740,000 t/y by year 12. “At this future production rate, Kamoa-Kakula would rank as the world’s second largest copper mine,” Ivanhoe said.

Robert Friedland, Co-Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, was at the Mining Indaba event in Cape Town, South Africa to announce these results.

He said: “These studies clearly prove our long-standing conviction that Kamoa-Kakula is firmly on track to become one of the absolute greatest copper mining complexes in the world, helping to restore Katanga’s rightful position as the world’s largest copper producing region. This would not have happened without the extraordinary efforts of the Ivanhoe discovery team and our investment of more than $800 million in exploration and development.

“We now look forward to working with the new government of the DRC and the Congolese people to develop Kamoa-Kakula to its full potential, generating widely shared economic benefits that will help to uplift local communities, and provide skills training to help ensure that young Congolese can qualify for the thousands of meaningful direct and indirect jobs that will be created.”