Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines has an-nounced it began copper concentrate production at the Phase 1, 3.8 million-tonne-per-year Kamoa-Kakula Mine which is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“Kakula is projected to be the world’s highest-grade major copper mine, with an initial mining rate of 3.8 Mtpa, ramping up to 7.6 Mtpa in Q3 2022. Phase 1 is expected to produce approximately 200,000 tonnes of copper per year, and phases 1 and 2 combined are forecast to produce approximately 400,000 tonnes of copper per year,” the Canadian business said in a statement.
Ivanhoe Mines says that, based “on independent benchmarking, the project’s phased expansion scenario to 19 Mtpa would position Ka-moa-Kakula as the world’s second-largest copper mining complex, with peak annual copper production of more than 800,000 tonnes.”