According to a report on Mining.com, Ivanhoe Mines announced that the copper ore resources at its Makoko copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have nearly doubled compared to one and a half years ago.
The Makoko copper mine is located within Ivanhoe's Western Forelands exploration project. On Wednesday, Ivanhoe announced that the mine's total copper ore resources now stand at 9.37 million mt, an 89% increase from the 5 million mt estimated in November 2023.
Ivanhoe is accelerating drilling at Western Forelands, a project adjacent to the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine complex, covering an area of 2,393 square kilometers.
Ivanhoe stated that drilling in the region will proceed at a "record-breaking" pace this year as the company prepares to release consolidated resource figures.
"Despite a slight decrease in grade, there has been a significant increase in copper ore resources," said Orest Wowkodaw, a mining analyst at Scotia Capital, in an investment note on Wednesday.
At a 1% cut-off grade, Makoko has indicated ore resources of 27.7 million mt with a copper grade of 2.79%, and inferred ore resources of 493.7 million mt with a copper grade of 1.7%.
"Makoko's resources already indicate that the project is a large-scale, long-life copper mine. In 2025, Ivanhoe will invest CAD 50 million in exploration in the region, with the potential for further resource expansion," said Farooq Hamed, a mining analyst at Raymond James, in an investment note on Wednesday.
"Additionally, the Makoko mine area is adjacent to Kamoa-Kakula—the eastern edge of the Makoko mine area is only 10 kilometers from the western edge of Kakula. The project has excellent infrastructure advantages, which can significantly reduce the risks associated with future mine construction at Makoko."
Thanks to its abundant natural resources, the DRC became the world's second-largest copper producer after Chile in 2023. With the addition of a third beneficiation plant, Kamoa-Kakula became the world's third-largest copper mine last year. It is also the largest copper mine on the African continent.
BHP CEO Mike Henry predicted in March that, driven by rapid urbanization, artificial intelligence, and data center development, copper demand will increase by 70% by mid-century. Ivanhoe's founder and Executive Chairman Robert Friedland expects a supply deficit to emerge.
"The scarcity of high-quality undeveloped copper resources is becoming increasingly apparent. The supply deficit in the copper concentrates market will not shrink but will only widen," Friedland said in a statement on Wednesday.
Since the initial resource announcement in November 2023, Ivanhoe has drilled 86,000 meters at West Foreland. The drilling has primarily focused on Makoko, Makoko West, and Kitoko, which have been combined into the Makoko mine area. Since the previous resource update, the Makoko mine area has been extended by 2 kilometers along strike to a total length of 13 kilometers.
Fifth Largest Discovery in the Last Decade
Ivanhoe claims that Makoko represents the highest-grade and fifth-largest new copper discovery globally in the last decade. The mineralization "remains open in all directions, with significant potential for further expansion," according to Friedland.
Ivanhoe stated that copper ore was encountered in two-thirds of the drill holes completed before the end of February.
This resource update is based on a drilling program of 147,000 meters across 311 drill holes; of these, 123 holes totaling 86,000 meters were drilled since November 2023. The mine area has expanded by 37.4 square kilometers, including 1.6 square kilometers of Indicated Resources and 57 square kilometers of Inferred Resources.
