Tag Archives: Democratic Republic of the Congo

DELKOR India to supply vacuum belt filters to two mining operations in the DRC

DELKOR India has been contracted to provide DELKOR Horizontal Vacuum Belt Filters, together with ancillaries, for two operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The orders included supply of a 162 sq.m filter for a copper project in Katanga, which was commissioned in 2022, and supply of a 110 sq.m filter for a cobalt processing plant in the Lualaba province. The latter was commissioned in 2020.

The scope of work for both contracts covered design, engineering, manufacture, supply (ex-works) and supervision.

Both filters were designed to achieve maximum recovery of water and produce a drier filter cake, DELKOR says. However, in the case of the 162 sq.m horizontal belt filter, the water is removed from the cake to repulp with acid in the downstream unit operation in preparation for the leaching process.

The filters were manufactured mainly from high-strength and corrosion-resistant stainless steel suited to the process requirements and were supplied in a knockdown state for easy and efficient erection on site.

These two projects reinforce DELKOR India’s long-standing relationship with the client, with earlier contracts including:

  • One 145 sq.m and one 64 sq.m horizontal vacuum belt filter;
  • Various thickeners of several capacities, including a high-rate thickener; and
  • Test work and design for a belt filter and high-rate thickener.

“We are proud to have been part of the establishment of such important projects,” Indu Bhushan Jha, DELKOR Managing Director, says. “These contract awards provide further examples of DELKOR India’s commitment to maintaining the loyalty of its client base through superior service and best-of-breed technologies.”

Epiroc LHDs, trucks and drills set for Kipushi underground project in DRC

Epiroc says it has won a large order from JCHX Mining and Construction Ltd for equipment to be used at the Kipushi underground project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kipushi is an underground mine that is reopening under the leadership of Kipushi Corporation, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines of Canada and Gécamines, a DRC state-owned mining company.

JCHX, a mining contractor, has ordered several Epiroc loaders, mine trucks and drill rigs, including service support, for use at the zinc, copper, germanium and silver mine in the Haut-Katanga, province in southern DRC. After decades of production, the mine closed for care and maintenance in 1994. Construction started last year to re-open the mine, with late 2024 as target to start production. The mine will be powered by clean, renewable hydro-generated electricity, according to the owners.

The equipment order is valued at about $17 milion and was booked in the March quarter of 2023.

“We look forward to supporting JCHX in making operations at the Kipushi mine as safe and productive as possible,” Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s President and CEO, says.

Sami Niiranen, President of Epiroc’s Underground division, said: “JCHX has been a customer of Epiroc for many years, both in Africa and Europe, and we are pleased to continue delivering innovative solutions that will help to optimise operations at Kipushi.”

JCHX International Division President, Youcheng Wang, added: “From the group headquarters to the front-line team, Epiroc sets the highest priority on this equipment order, also when it comes to on-site technical support.”

The ordered equipment, manufactured in Sweden, includes Scooptram ST14 loaders, Minetruck MT42 haul trucks, and Simba production drill rigs. The Scooptram and Minetruck machines will be equipped with Epiroc’s telematics system Certiq, which allows for intelligent monitoring of machine performance and productivity in real time, and with Epiroc’s Rig Control System, RCS, which makes them ready for automation and remote control.

Delivery begins shortly and will continue into early 2024.

SES’ O3b constellation to keep up connectivity at Kamoa-Kakula

The Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will continue to enjoy high-speed satellite-based connectivity services as part of a new agreement between Ivanhoe Mines and SES, SES says.

The enhanced partnership builds on an existing five-year relationship between SES and Ivanhoe Mines and comes at a time of significant investment in low-latency, high-capacity solutions in the region, the company added.

The O3b constellation is powering connectivity for mining operators, driving a digitalisation revolution for the sector that is helping to increase profitability while improving worker safety and accountability, according to SES. “This model enables operators to cost effectively scale connectivity as needed throughout the lifecycle of a mine, ensuring assets have the right amount of bandwidth at any given time to meet digitalisation requirements,” it said.

Caroline Kamaitha, Vice President, Sales Africa at SES, said: “We’re proud to continue delivering reliable high-speed connectivity to DRC’s mining industry through our O3b high-throughput and low-latency connectivity services, enabling mining companies to implement new services and applications that will improve workers’ safety, digitalise operations and maximise profitability through increased agility and automation.”

Anil Udayabhanu, Head of Technology at Kamoa Copper, said: “Our long-standing partnership with SES has already helped us to improve the profitability of our extraction, and supported our goal of improving the safety and welfare of all of our staff. In addition to that, O3b connectivity services will also help us leverage the latest applications, communicate in real time and maximise our productivity.”

Duratray Suspended Dump Bodies on their way to Kibali gold mine

A new fleet of Duratray Suspended Dump Bodies (SDB) for Caterpillar 777-05 mining trucks has been completed and shipped to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for use at the Kibali gold mine in the country.

Following manufacture in Turkey, the steel frames will be transported on sea to Kenya, then 1,800 km overland through Uganda until reaching their final destination at the Kibali mine.

Kibali is owned by Kibali Goldmines SA which is a joint venture company effectively owned 45% by each of Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti, and 10% by Société Miniére de Kilo-Moto. The mine is operated by Barrick.

Duratray International Project Manager, Csaba Nagy, said the Kibali contract represented the first post-COVID collaboration with the company’s fabriactor in Turkey, which had resulted in great success, despite current challenges such as labour shortages and high demand for steel. Simultaneously, the rubber wearmat kits, fixings, special tools and spare parts were shipped from Duratray’s principal manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Victoria.

The four Caterpillar 777-05 dump bodies will be transported in preassembled parts. Steel frame assembly then rubber component installation will take place at Kibali mine by a Duratray International Field Service crew from South Africa.

Sandvik to deliver load and haul equipment to JCHX Mining in DRC

Sandvik has received a large mining equipment order from the China-based global mining services provider JCHX Mining Management Co., Ltd to be used in the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine and the Kamoya copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The order is valued at SEK 210 million ($20.1 million) and will be booked in the December quarter of 2022.

The order is for a fleet of load and haul equipment, including eight Sandvik TH545i trucks, five Sandvik TH663i trucks, three Sandvik LH621i loaders, two Sandvik LH514E cable-electric loaders and one Sandvik LH514 loader.

The equipment will primarily be delivered during 2023, but with the first delivery expected by the end of the year.

Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, said: “I am pleased to see the continued demand for our highly productive offering of intelligent mining equipment. Our highest-capacity intelligent load and haul equipment has been in operation at Kamoa since 2019, and this order is a testament to the strength and quality of the solutions we provide.”

Metso Outotec to deliver Planet Positive milling, concentration and filtration tech to Kamoa

Kamoa Copper SA has selected Metso Outotec to supply key concentrator plant equipment to the company’s copper mining complex expansion in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the OEM reports.

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery consists of Planet Positive processing equipment, including energy efficient HIGmill™ regrind mills (pictured) with polyurethane wear linings. The delivery also includes Larox® PF 60 Series concentrate filters and TankCell® flotation cells for the efficient recovery of valuables.

“One of the key missions for Kamoa Copper SA is to implement low-carbon technology to advance sustainable production of copper,” Charles Ntsele, Vice President, Minerals Sales for Metso Outotec in Africa, says. “Metso Outotec’s Planet Positive offering supports our customer’s ambition, allowing us to be a true partner for positive change.”

Early in July, Ivanhoe Mines, which owns 39.6% of Kamoa-Kakula, reported record producion in the June quarter of 87,314 t of copper in concentrate produced.

Metso Outotec also announced this week that it had signed an agreement with Larsen & Toubro Limited to supply four Symons™ cone crushers for an iron ore crushing and screening plant to National Mineral Development Corporation’s (NMDC) Kirandul complex in Chhattisgarh, Central India.

The new Symons cone crushers have advanced features that will make the customer’s operations more efficient and reduce maintenance efforts compared with earlier versions and to other equivalent crushers on the market, Metso Outotec says.

Alphamin bolsters gravity separation options with second Gekko IPJ

Alphamin Resources has purchased a second IPJ2400 for tin recovery at the Bisie tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gekko Systems says.

The purchase of a second Gekko InLine Pressure Jig (IPJ) unit follows good performance from the first IPJ installed at this site in 2018 (pictured).

In addition, the Ririwai tin project has purchased an IPJ1500 in Nigeria.

The IPJ is a continuous gravity separation device that rapidly and efficiently pre-concentrates high-value and high-density mineral particles such as tin, tantalum, sulphides and free gold, Gekko says.

With installations worldwide, the unit has multiple applications including assisting in gangue rejection and combining with flotation to recover coarse minerals at the plus-100 micron range. The IPJ has significant benefits such as low water consumption, low footprint, ease of operation and 30 years of operational history.

SRK Consulting helps DRC miner with social development ‘first’

A large mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has – with assistance from SRK Consulting Congo – become the first to have its Cahier de Charge (Social Term Sheet) approved, the mining consultant says.

Regulations introduced in the DRC in 2018 require mines to set out a clear and financially-provisioned five-year plan for local social development – a Cahier de Charge – in consultation with local communities and stakeholders. According to Susa Maleba, Country Manager at SRK Consulting Congo, the key aspect of the new requirement was that effective consultation be conducted.

“Mines generally have community development plans but these are often designed by the mine, which historically had little formalised input from local communities or other stakeholders,” said Maleba. “This compulsory consultative process – as part of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment – ensures that mine initiatives align with the real needs and preferences of those affected by the mine.”

The mining company contracted SRK Consulting Congo to work with its DRC mine on planning and implementing the consultation. This process began in 2018 and lasted four months. The final agreement between the communities and the company was signed off in March 2019.

Established a decade ago in Lubumbashi, the local SRK office appointed its stakeholder engagement specialist, Philippe Katuta, to guide the process.

Susa Maleba, Country Manager at SRK Consulting Congo

“As an experienced local expert who is well regarded by the mining communities, Phillipe supervised the process with the client – facilitating contact between the mine, three local communities, the ‘chefferies’ tribal structure and provincial government,” Maleba said.

He highlighted the importance of having the trust of all parties in the consultation, to ensure frank engagement and effective buy-in. This, in turn, helped ensure proper implementation of the agreed plan, so that the intended benefits would be achieved, according to SRK.

“Essential factors in the success of the process included our experience in stakeholder engagement and our local knowledge – from local language communication to the traditions and customs to be observed,” Maleba said. “Working with mining companies, we emphasise the social licence aspect of their strategy and operations – which prioritises close working relationships with partners, communities and government. It means applying the spirit – not just the letter – of the law.”

Among the social development imperatives highlighted by communities during the engagements were transformers to link with the country’s power grid, boreholes for access to water, agricultural extension programs and trade training for local youth.

Maleba acknowledged that it was seldom easy to balance the expectations of communities with the financial resources of the mining company, but this made the relationship of trust a vital foundation for collaboration.

He also noted that the new regulations provided for ongoing monitoring of mines’ community development plans – to ensure that what was promised was in fact delivered, in line with a predetermined schedule.

Kamoa-Kakula copper project continues to track ahead of schedule, Ivanhoe says

Ivanhoe Mines Co-Chair Robert Friedland has hinted in its latest announcement that the Kamoa-Kakula project, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, could produce first copper ahead of its planned September quarter 2021 schedule.

Friedland and fellow Co-Chair, Yufeng “Miles” Sun, said underground development at the Kakula copper mine continued to exceed expectations with more than 18.7 km now complete – 5.5 km ahead of schedule.

In July, the mining team achieved 1,638 m of underground development, which was 257 m ahead of plan for the month.

Ivanhoe says the Kamoa-Kakula project is unique as it combines ultra-high copper grades in thick, shallow and relatively flat-lying deposits – allowing for large-scale, highly-productive, mechanised underground mining operations.

Initial production at the Kakula mine is scheduled for the September quarter of 2021, with Kakula projected to be the world’s highest-grade major copper mine with an initial mining rate of 3.8 Mt/y at an estimated average feed grade in excess of 6% Cu over the first five years of operation.

The mine will have one of the most favourable environmental footprints of any tier-one copper mine, according to Ivanhoe. “It will be powered by clean, renewable hydroelectricity and be among the world’s lowest greenhouse gas emitters per unit of copper produced,” the company said. “It also will have a relatively tiny surface footprint as approximately 55% of the mine’s tailings will be pumped back into underground workings.” The latter is through a paste backfill plant that Beijing-based CITIC Construction is constructing.

The majority of the development headings at the Kakula mine currently are traversing medium-grade sections of the orebody, with average grades ranging between 3-5% copper. Several development headings are in higher-grade zones averaging between 5-8% copper, and this ore is being placed on a dedicated, high-grade surface stockpile at Kakula North that currently totals some 116,000 t grading an estimated 6.08% Cu. The lower-grade surface stockpiles at Kakula North, Kakula South and Kansoko together contain an additional 446,000 t grading an estimated 2.73% Cu.

As Kakula’s underground development progresses over the next few months, most of the working areas are expected to transition into the higher-grade ore zones near the centre of the deposit that have copper grades approximately 5-8%, Ivanhoe said.

Meanwhile, the high-capacity ore conveyor system at the Kakula North declines, which has a capacity of 2,000 t/h, is undergoing final commissioning and is expected to begin continuous operations shortly. Once this happens, the ore mined in the northern portion of the Kakula mine will be combined and placed on a blended surface stockpile. The Kakula South and Kansoko declines are not equipped with conveyor systems; as such, the ore mined from these deposits will continue to be placed on separate surface stockpiles, based on copper grades.

More than 300 truckloads, consisting mainly of structural steel and equipment for Kakula’s initial 3.8 Mt/y processing plant, are expected to arrive at the mine site before the end of August. Fabrication of the plant’s largest components – two ball mills, each measuring 9.75 m long and 6.1 m in diameter – has been completed at CITIC Heavy Industries’ factory in Luoyang, China, and the third and final shipment of ball mill components is expected to be on site by the end of September.

“The construction team at Kakula, led by Mark Farren, Kamoa Copper’s CEO, has done a fantastic job of keeping the project moving ahead at a rapid pace despite the logistical challenges posed by COVID-19,” Friedland said. “With each passing month, we are getting increasingly confident that we could be producing copper at Kakula ahead of schedule.

“We’re in a good place at the moment, with the vast majority of the major equipment needed to build the mine and processing plant already fabricated, and either at site, or en route to site. Full credit goes to our entire team for implementing and adhering to early and extraordinary measures to safeguard our workforce and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the mine development and construction operations.”

The Kamoa-Kakula copper project is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%) and the DRC government (20%).

The independent Kakula definitive feasibility study (DFS) and an updated Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the entire Kamoa-Kakula mining complex is expected to be finalised shortly, Ivanhoe said. The IDP will include details on the planned expansion phases for the greater Kamoa-Kakula mining complex, incorporating updates for mineral resources, production rates and economic analysis.

Basic engineering design and costing for Kamoa-Kakula’s planned Phase 2 expansion, taking production from 3.8 Mt/y to 7.6 Mt/y, is also complete. The scope of facilities for Phase 2 includes underground expansion at the Kakula mine to reach an annual production rate of 6 Mt/y, the expansion of mining operations at the Kansoko mine to a steady state 1.6 Mt/y, a second 3.8 Mt/y concentrator plant at Kakula, as well as associated surface infrastructure to support the expansion at the various sites.

AVZ readies infrastructure tenders for Manono lithium project

AVZ Minerals has issued a raft of ‘pre-mining’ infrastructure package tenders for its Manono lithium-tin project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The tenders, which will be awarded once AVZ makes a final investment decision on Manono, are estimated to be collectively worth about $300 million.

Included are the process plants engineering procurement and construction package, the Kabondo Dianda intermodal staging station, diesel storage facilities and supply package, site buildings and enterprise resource systems.

AVZ’s Managing Director, Nigel Ferguson, said: “We will have final pricings on our various tenders back in July and August and then expect to be in a position to award these contracts, pending COVID-19 travel restrictions being lifted and a financial investment decision being reached.”

The Manono project is owned by AVZ (60%), La Congolaise d’Exploitation Minière SA (30%) and Dathomir Mining Resources SARL (10%).

An April feasibility study highlighted a 20-year mine open-pit mine life producing 700,000 t/y of high-grade spodumene concentrate lithium and 45,375 t/y of primary lithium sulphate. Within this plan, the pre-production capital expenditure of $545.5 million included transport upgrade and rehabilitation of the Mpiana Mwanga Hydroelectric Power Plant.