Mining
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 3:19 pm EDT
Key Points
- Ivanhoe Mines’ Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the DRC achieved a notable production of 86,203 tonnes of copper in concentrate during Q1 2024, maintaining its annual production guidance between 440,000 to 490,000 tonnes.
- The complex’s phase 1 and 2 concentrators milled approximately 2.06 million tonnes of ore during the quarter, achieving a record daily milling rate and quarterly mining record. The phase 3 concentrator is ahead of schedule, expected to complete in May, with significant stockpiled ore.
- Challenges related to power grid instability and heavy rainfall impacted production, prompting collaboration with SNEL for infrastructure upgrades. Ivanhoe Mines Energy is expanding backup power generation to ensure operational redundancy, with plans to increase power supply from the Zambian grid.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) produced 86,203 tonnes of copper in concentrate during the first quarter of 2024. Ivanhoe Mines maintains its 2024 annual production guidance for Kamoa-Kakula at between 440,000 tonnes to 490,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate.
Kamoa-Kakula’s phase 1 and 2 concentrators milled approximately 2.06 million tonnes (Mt) of ore during the first quarter at an average feed grade of 4.8 per cent copper. Copper flotation recoveries for the quarter averaged 87.4 per cent, above the phase 1 and 2 concentrator design recovery rate of 86 per cent.
A daily milling record was achieved on Jan. 2, 2024, when 31,375 tonnes of ore were processed by the phase 1 and 2 concentrators over 24 hours. This performance is equivalent to an annual milling rate of 10.5 million tonnes (after accounting for availability).
A quarterly mining record of 2.50 million tonnes of ore was achieved from the Kakula and Kamoa 1 underground mines. Ore from the Kamoa 1 mine is stockpiled on surface ahead of the commencement of the adjacent phase 3 concentrator. The phase 3 concentrator is tracking ahead of schedule with completion now expected next month, in May. At the end of the quarter, there was 2.05 million tonnes of stockpiled ore for the phase 3 concentrator, at an average grade of 3.1 per cent copper.
As mentioned in the company’s annual 2023 results on February 26, 2024, the first quarter production, including throughput and head grade continued to be impacted by the previously reported instability within the DRC’s southern power grid. Kamoa Copper continues to work closely with the DRC’s state-owned power company, La Societe Nationale d’Electricite (SNEL), to deliver solutions for the identified causes of the instability experienced across the southern DRC’s grid infrastructure since late 2022. During the first quarter, heavier-than-usual rainfall during the wet season further contributed to grid power intermittency. The rainfall led to elevated water levels in the Congo River, causing debris to block the intakes that feed the Inga hydroelectric dam complex. The blockages negatively impacted hydro generation capacity. The wet season typically occurs between November and April.
In December 2023, SNEL and Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC, a subsidiary of Kamoa Holding Limited, signed an amendment to the existing financing agreement to fund the identified infrastructure upgrades. The original 2014 financing agreement consisted of a loan of up to $250 million to fund the refurbishment of 78 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity at the Mwadingusha dam and 178 MW of generation capacity from Turbine #5 at the Inga II dam. The refurbishment of the Mwadingusha facility was completed in September 2021, and the refurbishment of Turbine #5 at Inga II dam is on-schedule to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The amendment to the financing agreement expands the loan up to a total of $450 million. As with the existing financing agreement, the $200 million in additional funding by Ivanhoe Mines Energy to SNEL bears interest at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus 3% and will be repaid via a 40% discount on the tariff of grid energy consumed by Kamoa-Kakula.
The additional funding is assigned specifically for grid infrastructure upgrades, such as an increase in grid capacity between the Inga II dam and Kolwezi, a new harmonic filter at the Inga Converter Station, as well as a new static compensator at the Kolwezi Converter Station. In addition, various smaller initiatives have been identified to strengthen the transmission capability and improve the stability of the southern grid. This includes the restringing of powerlines in the southern grid, as well as repairs to the direct current (DC) infrastructure. Funding will also be used to install preventative measures to avoid future blockages of the Inga dam intakes. Mobilization of resources is well underway, with project delivery expected to be complete by mid-2025. In addition to this, Ivanhoe Mines Energy is working with SNEL to put in place maintenance contracts to maintain key generation capacity and transmission infrastructure.
As a redundancy measure, Kamoa Copper’s engineering team is currently expanding the on-site backup generation capacity to ensure there is full on-site redundancy for the current Phase 1 and 2 operations, as well as future Phase 3 operations. On-site backup-power generation capacity is on schedule to increase, via a phased roll-out, from the current 58 MW to a total of over 200 MW in time for the completion of the Phase 3 smelter in Q4 2024, as shown in Figure 2. An additional 20 MW of generation capacity is in the process of being installed and commissioned, with a further 50 MW on schedule to be commissioned from the end of the second quarter. This will bring backup generation capacity to 128 MW. The generator farm sites are being built adjacent to the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators, and the smelter site at Kakula, as well as adjacent to the Phase 3 concentrator at Kamoa.
In addition, since mid-March an additional 15 MW of power is being supplied to Kamoa-Kakula from the neighbouring Zambian grid. The additional power has had a noticeably positive effect on power stability of Kamoa-Kakula’s operations. Kamoa-Kakula’s executive team is in discussions for up to an additional 35 MW of power to be supplied via the Zambian interconnector later in the second quarter, subject to capacity availability from its adjoining Namibian, Botswanan, and Mozambique grids. By the end of 2024, Kamoa-Kakula is targeting up to 100 MW to be supplied via the Zambian interconnector.
Ivanhoe Mines to issue Q1 2024 financial results and host conference call for investors on April 30
Ivanhoe Mines will report its Q1 2024 financial results, and a detailed update on its operations, before the market opens on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
The company plans to hold an investor conference call to discuss the Q1 2024 financial results on the same day. Details of the call will be shared closer to the date.
An audio webcast recording of the conference call, together with supporting presentation slides, will be available on Ivanhoe Mines’ website at www.ivanhoemines.com.
After issuance, the Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis will be available at www.ivanhoemines.com and www.sedarplus.ca.
Qualified Persons
Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in this news release have been reviewed and approved by Steve Amos, who is considered, by virtue of his education, experience and professional association, a Qualified Person under the terms of NI 43-101. Mr. Amos is not considered independent under NI 43-101 as he is Ivanhoe Mines’ Executive Vice President, Projects. Mr. Amos has verified the technical data disclosed in this news release.
Other disclosures of a scientific or technical nature regarding the stockpiles in this news release have been reviewed and approved by Joshua Chitambala, who is considered, by virtue of his education, experience and professional association, a Qualified Person under the terms of NI 43-101. Mr. Chitambala is not considered independent under NI 43-101 as he is the Resource Manager for Ivanhoe Mines. Mr. Chitambala has verified the other technical data regarding the surface stockpiles disclosed in this news release.
Ivanhoe has prepared an independent, NI 43-101-compliant technical report for the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, which is available on the company’s website and under the company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedarplus.ca:Kamoa-Kakula Integrated Development Plan 2023 Technical Report dated March 6, 2023, prepared by OreWin Pty Ltd.; China Nerin Engineering Co. Ltd.; DRA Global; Epoch Resources; Golder Associates Africa; Metso Outotec Oyj; Paterson and Cooke; SRK Consulting Ltd.; and The MSA Group.
The technical report includes relevant information regarding the assumptions, parameters and methods of the mineral resource estimates on the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex cited in this news release, as well as information regarding data verification, exploration procedures and other matters relevant to the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.
About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa; the expansion of the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the DRC, the construction of the tier-one Platreef palladium-nickel-platinum-rhodium-copper-gold project in South Africa; and the restart of the historic ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC.
Ivanhoe Mines also is exploring for new copper discoveries across its circa 2,650 km2 of 60-100% owned exploration licences in the Western Forelands, located adjacent to the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the DRC.
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