{"id":1163838,"date":"2020-02-05T09:23:52","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T15:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1012967"},"modified":"2020-02-05T09:23:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T15:23:52","slug":"ivanhoes-giant-kamoa-kakula-copper-project-in-drc-keeps-getting-bigger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1163838","title":{"rendered":"Ivanhoe\u2019s giant Kamoa-Kakula copper project in DRC keeps getting bigger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Canada\u2019s Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ivanhoemines.com\/news\/2020\/updated-independently-verified-indicated-mineral-resource-again-increases-the-kamoa-copper-discovery-to-256-million-tonnes\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">unveiled a fresh set of mind-boggling figures<\/a> from its flagship copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, confirming that the already large asset has room to grow.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) puts the combined Kamoa-Kakula project at 423 million tonnes grading 4.68% copper, at a 3% cut off. Indicated mineral resource, in turn, now stands at 1.4 billion tonnes grading 2.7% copper, at a 1% cut-off.<\/p>\n<p>The 400 km<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0mining concession comprises two large, near-surface, flat-lying, stratiform copper deposits. One of them, Kakula, is <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/citic-injects-another-454m-ivanhoes-copper-mine-drc\/\" >being fast-tracked to commercial production<\/a>, with the initial 3.8-million-tonne-a-year mining operation scheduled to produce first concentrate in the third quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Indicated mineral resources at the Kamoa deposit, discovered by<br \/>\nIvanhoe geologists in 2008,&nbsp;now total 760 million tonnes grading<br \/>\n2.73% copper, containing 45.8 billion pounds of copper.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see excellent opportunity to add further shallow, higher-grade copper resources in the northern portion of the mining licence,\u201d the company\u2019s vice president for resources, George Gilchrist, said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ivanhoemines.com\/news\/2020\/updated-independently-verified-indicated-mineral-resource-again-increases-the-kamoa-copper-discovery-to-256-million-tonnes\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Vancouver-based miner has been working on Kamoa-Kakula for more than ten years. In 2015, China\u2019s Zijin Mining Group got on board, becoming Ivanhoe\u2019s partner in the project. Citic Metal, another Chinese firm, followed suit in 2018, becoming&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/chinas-citic-ivanhoe-mines-top-shareholder-548m-deal\/\" >Ivanhoe\u2019s top shareholder<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Kamoa-Kakula-PEA-production.jpg\" alt=\"Ivanhoe\u2019s giant Kamoa-Kakula copper project in DRC keeps getting bigger\" class=\"wp-image-1012969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Kamoa-Kakula-PEA-production.jpg 733w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Kamoa-Kakula-PEA-production-300x161.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 733px) 100vw, 733px\" \/><figcaption><em> Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/ivanhoemines.com\/news\/2019\/ivanhoe-mines-issues-third-quarter-financial-results-and-review-of-mine-development-and-exploration-activities\/\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Wood Mackenzie (based on public disclosure; the Kakula 2019 PFS has not been reviewed by Wood Mackenzie).<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Over more than two decades, billionaire<br \/>\nRobert Friedland and his team have made some of the biggest mineral discoveries<br \/>\nin recent times.<\/p>\n<p>Together with finding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/friedland-confident-congo-copper-mine-will-worlds-second-largest\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Africa\u2019s largest copper deposit to date<\/a>, other projects under the executive\u2019s belt include building the Oyu Tolgoi copper- gold mine in Mongolia and discovering the Voisey\u2019s Bay nickel deposit in Canada, which he sold in 1996 for more than $3 billion. Ivanhoe is also developing a platinum mine in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Once fully developed, the mining<br \/>\ncomplex in the DRC could produce 382,000 tonnes of copper a year during the<br \/>\nfirst 10 years, climbing to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/friedland-confident-congo-copper-mine-will-worlds-second-largest\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">700,000 tonnes of copper after 12 years of operations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Analysts say the giant project, believed to have the potential to become\u00a0the world\u2019s second-largest copper mine, could restore the DRC\u2019s historical position as one of the world\u2019s top copper producing countries.<\/p>\n<p>Kakula would be the first of at<br \/>\nleast three mines planned for the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The updated mineral resource estimate (puts the combined Kamoa-Kakula project at 423 million tonnes grading 4.68% copper, at a 3% cut off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[539,369,4],"tags":[43],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1163838"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163948,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163838\/revisions\/1163948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1163838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1163838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1163838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}