Ivanhoe Mining (TSX:IVN) announced that part of the proceeds from the recently completed US $575 million, 2.50% convertible preferred note issue will be used to accelerate the third phase of the expansion of the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Co-chairman Robert Friedlander (Robert Friedland) said in a statement that the company would now seek to further increase Kamoa-Kakula copper production and accelerate the expansion of the stage III concentrator from 7.6 million tons per year to 11.4 million tons per year. At the same time, he pointed out that together with its partner Zijin Mining, it has accelerated the second phase of expansion to start production in the third quarter of 2022 and to produce about 400000 tons, or about 880 million pounds of copper a year.
He pointed out that the third phase of the expansion will bring Kamoa-Kakula 's copper production to about 530000 tons, or about 1.2 billion pounds per year. The company will undergo a long transition from prospector and developer to a major diversified mining company, and Kamoa-Kakula is about to join the world's largest producer of copper, platinum group metals and nickel. "
Wood Mackenzie (Wood Mackenzie) separately rated Kamoa-Kakula as the fourth largest copper deposit in the world. Its latest resource estimates show that the country holds 1.4 billion tonnes of indicated grade, accounting for 2.74 per cent of 83.7 billion pounds of copper, and another 339 million tonnes of inferred grade, accounting for 1.68 per cent of 125 per cent copper, with a cut-off grade of 1 per cent.
