.gif)
Loading
Ivanhoe Mines’ Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has begun exporting copper concentrate to international markets as the metal continues to trade near all-time highs.
The first truckloads left the mine on July 17 and will be shipped exclusively to China’s Citic Metal and Zijing Mining from the port of Durban in South Africa.
Ivanhoe signed an agreement in June to sell 50% of the copper production from the first phase of the recently launched DRC copper mine to each of the Chinese companies.
The concentrates are packaged in bags, each containing about two tons of material. Once export clearance is received, which is expected to take about five days, the trucks will leave the DRC and proceed to South Africa.
Kamoa-Kakula, the largest copper mine in decades, began production on May 25 and made its first bulk concentrate delivery to the Lualaba Copper Smelter on June 1. Since then, shipments to the smelter have occurred daily.
Kamoa-Kakula Phase 1, currently ramping up to full production, is expected to produce 3.8 million tons per year, rising to 7.6 million tons per year by the end of 2022. After several phases of expansion, the mine’s peak annual copper production will be more than 800,000 tons.
Ivanhoe co-president Robert Friedland believes the project will become the second-largest copper mine in the world and also the highest-ranked among its core operations.
