Our portfolio of tier-one assets provides exposure to copper, platinum-group metals, nickel, zinc and other metals essential for the world’s transition to clean energy and a low-carbon economy. Our stakeholders benefit from long-life projects with low costs, low-capital intensity and leading ESG programs.
Kamoa-Kakula produced 393,551 tonnes of copper in concentrate in 2023, which was inside the 2023 production guidance range of 390,000 to 430,000 tonnes. Kamoa-Kakula’s 2023 production achievement represents a year-over-year increase of 18%. The 2024 annual production guidance for Kamoa-Kakula is estimated at between 440,000 to 490,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, following the anticipated completion of the Phase 3 concentrator during the third quarter of 2024.
Record annual revenue recognized in 2023
Estimated annual copper production following the Phase 3 expansion
Tonnes of copper produced in 2023
Kamoa-Kakula's 2024 copper production guidance
Contained Copper - Probable Mineral Reserve
Kamoa-Kakula 2023 cash cost per lb. copper
The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine — a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%) and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (20%) — is a very large, near-surface, flat-lying, stratiform copper deposit with adjacent prospective exploration areas within the Central African Copperbelt, approximately 25 kilometres west of the town of Kolwezi and about 270 kilometres west of the provincial capital of Lubumbashi.
Kamoa-Kakula began producing copper concentrates in May 2021 and began commercial production on July 1, 2021. Phased expansion is projected to make Kamoa-Kakula the third-largest copper complex globally. Kamoa-Kakula is powered by clean, renewable hydro-generated electricity and is projected to be among the world’s lowest greenhouse gas emitters per unit of metal produced, as confirmed by a 2020 independent audit performed by Hatch Ltd., of Mississauga, Canada. The Kakula Mine will have one of the most favourable environmental footprints of any tier-one copper mine worldwide. Along with a relatively small surface footprint, approximately 55% of the mine’s tailings will be pumped back into underground workings. Ivanhoe Mines has pledged to achieve net-zero operational greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine.
Phase 3 expansion to be completed in 2024
Phase 3 will increase Kamoa-Kakula’s annual copper production to a ten-year average of 650,000 tonnes of copper, at estimated cash costs of $1.22/lb. The expansion includes the commissioning of a 500,000-tonne-per-annum on-site, direct-to-blister copper smelter and refurbishment of Turbine #5 at the Inga II hydroelectric facility.
2023 Pre Feasibility Study assess an increase in production capacity
Kamoa-Kakula's 2023 PFS evaluates a staged increase in production capacity Kamoa-Kakula from the current nominal throughput rate of 7.6 Mtpa up to a total of 19.2 Mtpa by 2030.
Mine life extension to 42 years
The Kamoa-Kakula 2023 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) projects a nine-year mine life extension of the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, in addition to the Kamoa-Kakula 2023 pre-feasibility study of 33 years. This case includes the addition of four new underground mines in the Kamoa area (called Kamoa 3, 4, 5 and 6) to maintain the overall production rate of up to 19.2 Mtpa.
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