Kakula mine temporarily shuts down
Underground mining activities at the Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been temporarily shut down. Ivanhoe Mines made the announcement and cited the decision is due to seismic activity detected in the eastern section of the mine. As a precaution, all underground workers and equipment were safely evacuated.
The company confirmed that no injuries occurred during the incident. Senior management and geotechnical experts are currently conducting an extensive inspection of the affected area. Preliminary findings indicate that seismic activity has decreased significantly, and the western portion of the mine has already been cleared for safe resumption of operations. Inspections are still ongoing in the eastern part, where some underground infrastructure such as pumping systems may be affected.
Processing plants
In the meantime, Kakula’s processing plants (Phase 1 and 2) are running at lower capacity, utilizing surface ore stockpiles. Once operations in the western section fully resume, ore from that area will also be processed. Operations at the nearby Kamoa underground mine and the Phase 3 concentrator remain uninterrupted.
As of the end of April, the Kamoa-Kakula operation had around 3.8 million tonnes of copper ore in surface stockpiles, with an average copper grade of 3.2%. Despite the disruption, Ivanhoe has maintained its annual copper production forecast of 520,000 to 580,000 tonnes in concentrate. In April alone, the complex produced a record 50,176 tonnes.
Following the news, Ivanhoe’s share price fell nearly 9% to C$12.57, with a market capitalization of C$17.9 billion. Analysts at BMO Capital Markets noted that the current information suggests no major long-term damage, given the continuation of milling operations and the minimal structural impact underground. The Kamoa-Kakula copper project is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining (39.6%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo government (20%), and Crystal River Global (0.8%).
