The construction of Kakoula Copper Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo is progressing smoothly.

SMM: Canadian mining company (Ivanhoe Mines) announced on Tuesday that an independent final feasibility study confirmed that its Kakoula (Kakula) project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could become the second largest copper mine in the world.

The Kakoula copper mine, the first underground mine planned by the Camoa-Kakoula project, can mine 6 million tonnes of ore and a copper grade of 6.6 per cent a year in the first five years after it was put into production.

The company believes that this independent feasibility study was completed by the world's top engineering consulting company, confirming once again the great economic potential of the Kakoula copper mine.

Robert Friedland (Robert Friedland), co-chairman of Ivanhoe, said, "as in the final feasibility study, as the company has introduced to investors every month for the past year and a half, the Kakoula copper mine is under rapid construction, ahead of expectations and investment is within budget."

Kakoula Copper Mine is expected to start production in less than a year and will gain the highest ranking "green" reputation.

Friedland said that the Kakoula copper mine will be produced in the most environmentally responsible way in the world, which is very important for today's new generation of investors who pay attention to the environment and society.

Ivanhoe also released a pre-feasibility study on the (Kansoko) Copper Mine in Kansoko, which will mine 1.6 million tons of copper ore per year, which will increase Kakoula's annual copper mining capacity to 7.6 million tons per year.

Ivanhoe stressed that the Camoa-Kakoula copper project, developed in cooperation with Zijin Mining, will be made up of four copper mines in the future, capable of mining 19 million tons of copper ore per year.

The four copper mines, Kakoula, Kansoko, Kakurasi and Kamoabei, together produce more than 800000 tons of copper a year.

In the 1990s, Friedland unearthed the first bucket of gold from the (Voisey's Bay) nickel mine in Voise Bay, Canada. He has worked at the Camoa-Kakoula copper mine for 10 years.

Last week, the company established a strategic partnership with (CNMC), a Chinese non-ferrous mining group, to explore cooperation opportunities, including exploration and smelting in Africa.

In January, CNMC opened its first large copper smelter in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just 45 kilometers from the Kamoa-Kakoula copper project in the southern copper belt.

The main shareholders of the project are Ivanhoe Mining (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Jinghe International (0.8%) and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (20%).

Within the scope of the West Forlan exploration license adjacent to the Camoa-Kakoula copper mine license, Ivanhoe is exploring new copper discoveries.

In addition, the company is also promoting the Platraf (Platreef) copper-nickel-gold-platinum-palladium mine in South Africa and the Kipushi (Kipushi) lead-zinc-copper-silver-germanium mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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