Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) has produced its first concentrate at the Kamoa-Kakula operation’s phase three concentrator, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The concentrator was completed almost two quarters ahead of schedule and is projected to boost Kamoa-Kakula’s output to over 600,000 tonnes of copper per year once fully ramped up.
With the addition of the third concentrator, Kamoa-Kakula has become the third-largest copper mining complex in the world, following Escondida in Chile and Grasberg in Indonesia. It is also the largest copper operation on the African continent.
The new concentrator has a design capacity of 5 million tonnes per year, 30% more than that of the previous two concentrators, which are located 10 km away.
The phase one and two concentrators produced 35,474 tonnes of copper in May, marking the best performance in the past 12 months.
Ivanhoe and China’s Zijin Mining each hold a 39.6% stake in the Kamoa-Kakula joint venture, with the DRC government holding 20% and Crystal River Global 0.8%.
Ivanhoe has a market capitalization of $23.3 billion.
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