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Kamoa Copper reports 34 408 t of copper floated in August

Kamoa Copper in the Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded a monthly record 34 408 t of copper floated and produced 31 150 t of filtered copper in concentrate for sale. This equivalent to an annualized production rate of approximately 405 000 t of copper.

Ivanhoe Mine’s released the report and said during the month of August, Kamoa Copper milled 686 217 t of ore at an average feed grade of 5.8% copper, equivalent to an annualized processing rate of approximately 8.2 million tonnes for Phase 1 and 2.

The difference between floated and filtered copper arises because of the current bottleneck in filter capacity as the Phase 1 and 2 milling and flotation circuit continues to exceed design capacity. Floated copper is temporarily stored as a slurry in a fully lined dam, which is estimated to contain approximately 6 500 t of copper as at end of August, until it can be reclaimed in the concentrate thickener and filter press. Construction activities for Kamoa-Kakula’s fourth Larox concentrate filter press are said to be advancing well. This is part of Kamoa-Kakula’s de-bottlenecking program to boost Phase 1 and Phase 2 ore throughput to 9.2 mtp.

New appointments

Ivanhoe Mines has recently announced the appointment of Mark Farren and Steve Amos to the company’s Kamoa Copper Joint Venture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).Farren worked at Ivanhoe Mines as Executive Vice President, Operations, between June 2014 and October 2019. As development commenced on Phase 1 of the Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex, Farren was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Kamoa Copper Joint Venture to lead it through construction and commissioning. Farren returns to Ivanhoe Mines as Chief Operating Officer effective November 1, 2022.

“Mark and Steve are exceptional leaders who have been integral in the highly successful development of the Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which now is the fastest growing copper operation on the planet. We are extremely confident that Mark and Steve will continue to build upon Ivanhoe Mines’ track-record of operational excellence and industry-leading value creation, as we advance the world-scale Platreef and Kipushi projects to production and continue our journey as we become the world’s next major, diversified mining company.” stated Ivanhoe Mines Executive Co-Chair, Robert Friedland.

The pair oversaw the outstanding project delivery of both Kamoa-Kakula Phase 1 and Phase 2, which were both constructed during the COVID-19 pandemic, several months ahead of schedule and on budget. Amos, who worked at Ivanhoe Mines from 2011 as Vice President, Metallurgy, was appointed in 2019 to the Kamoa Copper Joint Venture as Head of Projects for the DRC. He returns to Ivanhoe Mines, effective immediately, as Executive Vice President, Projects, and will report to Farren.

 

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