{"id":1170378,"date":"2020-03-09T04:58:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T10:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1016493"},"modified":"2020-03-09T04:58:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T10:58:44","slug":"ivanhoe-hails-progress-at-kamoa-kakula-platreef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1170378","title":{"rendered":"Ivanhoe hails progress at Kamoa-Kakula, Platreef"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) said that progress at its Kakula project, the first of multiple planned&nbsp;mining&nbsp;areas at Kamoa-Kakula, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),&nbsp;continues to move forward, with production slated for the third quarter of 2021.<\/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>Delivering <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ivanhoemines.com\/news\/2020\/ivanhoe-mines-issues-2019-full-year-results-and-review-of-mine-construction-progress-and-exploration-activities\/\" >full year results and activities updates<\/a>, the Canadian miner said once the ongoing definitive feasibility study (DFS)\u00a0for its Kakula copper mine is finished, the company would have \u201can increased level of accuracy\u201d for the\u00a0design, production schedule and expenditure for the initial phase of\u00a0mine development.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>Cost of Ivanhoe\u2019s giant Kamoa-Kakula project in Congo now pegged at $1.3 billion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Following the completion of basic&nbsp;engineering&nbsp;and<br \/>\nprocurement, as part of the imminent Kakula DFS, the mine\u2019s initial processing<br \/>\nplant capacity has increased from 3 million tonnes a year to 3.8 million tonnes<br \/>\na year.<\/p>\n<p>The expansion in initial plant capacity will require boosting underground mining crews from 11 to 14 members this year to ensure enouigh output to feed the expanded plant. More workers will also be needed to create pre-production stockpiles of about 1.5 million tonnes of high-grade ore and an additional 700,000 tonnes of material grading of between 1% and 3% copper, Ivanhoe said.<\/p>\n<p>The Kamoa-Kakula team completed in November basic design and costing for Kakula&#8217;s initial mine and infrastructure, the first concentrator module and associated infrastructure.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Projected-18-Mtpa-Kamoa-Kakula-PEA-production-.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1006380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Projected-18-Mtpa-Kamoa-Kakula-PEA-production-.jpg 733w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Projected-18-Mtpa-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>The report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/cost-of-ivanhoes-giant-copper-project-in-congo-hits-1-3-billion\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">pushed initial capital costs up to about $1.3 billion<\/a> \u2014 an 18% increase over planned costs.<\/p>\n<p>Billionaire Robert Friedland, who made his fortune from the<br \/>\nVoisey\u2019s Bay nickel project in Canada in the 1990s,&nbsp;has been working on<br \/>\nKamoa-Kakula for ten years.<\/p>\n<p>The mining legend believes the project, being developed in partnership with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/zijin-mining-buys-10-canadas-ivanhoe-mines\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">China\u2019s Zijin Mining Group<\/a>, will become&nbsp;the world\u2019s second-largest copper mine.<\/p>\n<p>According to an&nbsp;independent pre-feasibility study (PFS)&nbsp;<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)\">released last year<\/a>, if all phases are completed the operation is expected to reach peak annual production of more than 700,000 tonnes of copper.<\/p>\n<p>The updated resource estimate for the massive project, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/ivanhoes-giant-kamoa-kakula-copper-project-in-drc-keeps-getting-bigger\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"delivered last month, (opens in a new tab)\">delivered last month,<\/a> shows it holds 1.4 billion indicated tonnes grading 2.74% copper for 83.7 billion pounds of copper and another 339 million inferred tonnes grading 1.68% copper for 12.5 billion pounds of copper at a 1% cut-off grade.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Palladium\u2019s fading stockpiles a boon for Platreef<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Ivanhoe Mines also highlighted that is stepping up efforts<br \/>\nto take advantage of soaring prices of platinum-group metals, particularly palladium<br \/>\nand rhodium. The two metals, broadly available at its 64%-owned&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Platreef&nbsp;project in South Africa, have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/deficit-should-keep-palladium-price-on-the-boil\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">benefitted by a global shortage<\/a> triggered by their increasing use in catalytic converters that reduce harmful engine emissions. This has propelled the asset\u2019s \u201cmetals-price basket\u201d to a new, all-time high, Ivanhoe said. <\/p>\n<p>The Vancouver-based company is now is fast-tracking a feasibility<br \/>\nstudy on a smaller-scale, early-stage development plan using Shaft 1 as a production<br \/>\nshaft at Platreef.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Production at the giant DRC copper mine is slated for the third quarter of 2021.<\/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":[949,369,4],"tags":[43],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170378"}],"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=1170378"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1170452,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170378\/revisions\/1170452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1170378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1170378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1170378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}