Ivanhoe’s giant Kamoa-Kakula hits stage 3 commercial copper production in Congo

Ivanhoe Mines’ (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) Kamoa-Kakula copper mine, the world’s third-largest, has reached stage three commercial production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the company said Monday.

The new concentrator had previously started production just over two months ago, shortly after its construction was completed ahead of schedule at the end of May.  

“Kamoa-Kakula’s operations team continues to achieve a very rare feat in our industry, delivering world-scale copper development projects ahead of schedule, while also advancing smoothly through to commercial production at an impressive rate,” Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe’s executive co-chair, said in a release.

He added that the mine’s record-setting production in July of 35,941 tonnes marked the rapid copper growth in the second half of the year, with the stage three concentrator ready to raise Kamoa-Kakula’s annual capacity from about 450,000 tonnes to more than 600,000 tonnes.

“This feat extends Ivanhoe’s solid track record of delivering projects ahead of schedule,” BMO Capital Markets mining analyst Andrew Mikitchook wrote in a note on Monday. “We see a strong production with record quarterly performance in this year’s second half for Ivanhoe.”

The production milestone further solidifies Kamoa-Kakula’s status, in which China’s Zijin Mining holds an equal stake to Ivanhoe, after the world’s top two copper mines Escondida in Chile and Grasberg in Indonesia. The mine’s also the largest copper operation in Africa.

Recovery rate rising

The concentrator itself is expected to produce about 150,000 tonnes of the red metal annually. The achievement of the final state of ramp-up — steady state production — which would increase recovery from about 80% to the nameplate target of 86%, is to happen when the fine grinding mills are commissioned at the end of August. Those mills are now being installed.

The engineering team at Kamoa plans study work aimed at boosting the stage three concentrators’ recovery rate to more than 90% and increasing its processing capacity.  

The concentrator has so far produced more than 11,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, with the first sale of concentrate in July.

Plans for the mine’s stage four expansion are underway, Friedland said.

All concentrate produced thus far was smelted at the Lualaba Copper Smelter in Kolwezi, about 50 km east of Kamoa-Kakula.

Shares in Ivanhoe were up 2.4% to $17.66 apiece on Monday morning, valuing the company at $23.5 billion. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $9.89 and $21.32.