Zijin approves investment of US $769 million in Congo copper smelter

Zijin said on Tuesday that its board of directors had approved an investment of $769 million in a smelter for its Kamoa-Kakula copper project with (Ivanhoe Mines), (DRC) of Ivanhoe Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The joint venture will reduce partners' reliance on third-party smelters to process their ore and produce crude copper, a partially purified copper.

Register Copper Digest

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In announcing the award of infrastructure contracts to China last week, Ivanhoe said the direct blister copper plant with an annual capacity of 500000 tonnes would become the largest copper smelter in Africa and one of the largest single-line smelters in the world. Neilin engineering co., Ltd.

Zijin said in a document that $769 million, including $699 million for construction, would generate its own cash flow from (JV), a Kamoa-Kamula joint venture.

Kamoa Copper, Ivanhoe and Zijin will each hold 39.6 per cent, while the Congolese government holds 20 per cent. Crystal River Global Limited holds 0.8 per cent.

Zijin added that the construction of the plant is expected to take three years.

Kamoa-Kakula began production in May and about 35 per cent of copper concentrate production is now being processed at the nearby Lualaba smelter, which is majority-owned by China Nonferrous Mining Corporation (CNMC) and the rest is shipped to international smelters.

Ivanhoe said last week that the first phase of Kamoa-Kamula is expected to produce about 200000 tonnes of copper a year, while the second phase will expand to 400000 tonnes a year, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022.

The Canada-based company said Kamoa-Kakula was likely to peak annual copper production of more than 800000 tonnes, making it the world's second-largest copper complex after Chile's Escondida mine.