Ivanhoe Mines shares rise on strong Q1 results

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) surged to its highest in a month Thursday after the Canadian miner posted strong results for the first quarter of 2025.

For the three-month period, Ivanhoe recognized a record revenue of $973 million, operating profit of $471 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $585 million, equivalent to a margin of 60%. Its adjusted EBITDA also set a record of $226 million, two-thirds higher than last year’s fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA of $136 million. 

These figures drove the company’s profit to $122 million, or 10¢ per share, beating the market forecast of 7¢ a share.

Shares of Ivanhoe jumped as much as 12% to a one-month high of C$13.74 apiece on the positive results. By markets closing in Toronto, the stock traded at C$13.45, giving the company a market capitalization of nearly C$18.19 billion.

Kamoa performance

The first quarter results, said Ivanhoe founder and co-chair Robert Friedland, reflect the company’s “strong efforts” at the world-class Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

From January to March, the copper mine, in which Ivanhoe holds a 39.6% stake, produced a near-record 133,120 tonnes, a 55% gain over the 86,117 tonnes of output in the same period last year. From March 18, the copper production rate increased to 614,000 tonnes on an annualized basis, setting up a higher monthly output starting in April.

“Kamoa-Kakula is set for record production in the shorter month of April, achieving approximately 50,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, equivalent to an annualized rate of over 600,000 tonnes – a remarkable achievement,” Friedland said in a release.

During the quarter, the stage one, two and three concentrators at Kamoa-Kakula achieved a combined milling record of about 3.7 million tonnes at an average record recovery rate of 87.4%. This was underpinned by the stage three concentrator operating 20% above its design capacity, Ivanhoe said.

Given these results, the company is maintaining its 2025 production guidance at 520,000 to 580,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate. In 2026, Ivanhoe is targeting around 600,000 tonnes of production as the stage one and two recoveries improve and the stage three throughput increases.

It also noted that Kamoa-Kakula’s 500,000-tonne-per-year on-site, direct-to-blister copper smelter, the largest in Africa, is now complete, with the facility undergoing commissioning. Start-up of the smelter is expected to commence in May, with first copper anode production expected in July.

Kipushi progress

Additionally, Ivanhoe has maintained its outlook for the Kipushi zinc mine, also in the DRC, on record production in the first quarter.

During Q1, the Kipushi concentrator milled a record 151,403 tonnes of ore at a record average grade of 32.5% zinc, producing 42,736 tonnes of zinc in concentrate at a contained grade of over 53%.

For the year, Ivanhoe expects Kipushi’s zinc output to range between 180,000 and 240,000 tonnes, as the mine continues its ramp up to steady state. The production rate is expected to rise to 250,000 tonnes in 2026 following the completion of ramp-up and debottlenecking activities at Kipushi.

The debottlenecking program, which is targeting a 20% increase in the concentrator’s processing capacity to up to 960,000 tonnes per annum, is about two-thirds complete, Ivanhoe said in the news release.