New high-grade copper find in DRC similar to Kakula, Ivanhoe says

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) says it’s made a significant high-grade copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) similar to the massive orebody it’s mining at the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex.

The discovery, named Kitoko — meaning “beautiful” or “gift” in several local languages — was made on Ivanhoe’s recently acquired joint venture licences in the Western Foreland, the company said on Tuesday. It’s about 25 km west of the ultra-high-grade Kamoa-Kakula mine in southern DRC near the borders with Zambia and Angola. 

Selected drill results from Kitoko include 3.37 metres of 3.54% copper, 6.43 metres of 4.92% copper, 4.2 metres of 3.6% copper and 6.8 metres of 3.35% copper. All intervals are true widths, with a copper cut-off of 1%. 

“Ivanhoe’s latest high-grade discovery of Kitoko confirms the effectiveness of our exploration model for identifying tier-one copper mineralization across the Western Foreland,” Ivanhoe founder and executive co-chair Robert Friedland said in the news release. “Our proprietary knowledge is the result of over 20 years of in-depth geological research in this previously unexplored terrain.”

Kitoko lies inside a package of new exploration licences within the Western Foreland area, where Ivanhoe holds a land position of 2,654 sq. km.

Makoko and Kiala are two distinct discoveries adjacent to the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex and continue Ivanhoe’s track record of making greenfield discoveries in this geological terrain. Ivanhoe stated inaugural mineral resource estimates for Makoko and Kiala this month. Kitoko is within 5 km of Makoko.

BMO Capital Markets metals and mining analyst Andrew Mikitchook said in a note on Wednesday that Kitoko is the fifth high-grade discovery by Ivanhoe in DRC and reminds investors of the exploration value of the Western Foreland as well as newly acquired extensions into Angola.

“Both Makoko and Kitoko are close to the Lobito Rail Corridor which is expected to improve the economics for both discoveries by reducing required infrastructure and lowering operating costs,” Mikitchook said, adding that the exploration leverage of Kitoko spurs an increase in BMO’s target price for Ivanhoe to $18 from $17. 

Like the Kamoa, Kakula, Makoko and Kiala deposits, the Kitoko discovery represents a fine-grained copper mineralization hosted in near flat-lying siltstone of the lower Grand Conglomerate diamictite. Also like these deposits, Kitoko is bottom-loaded with the highest copper grades occurring at the base of the mineralized zone.

According to Ivanhoe, the currently defined mineralized zone at Kitoko is trending southwest over 1.9 km of strike, with a dip extent of 600 metres and mineralization remains open in all directions. The mineralized system is estimated to be between 1,000 and 1,140 metres below surface.

Similar discovery to Kakula

Ivanhoe first began exploration activities on the Western Foreland area in July 2017. Initially, activities were focused on the construction of access roads, bridges and the development of new camp facilities. In parallel, the company undertook airborne and ground-based geophysical surveys and revisited previously acquired geophysical and geochemical data sets.

Targets, and subsequent discoveries, were identified first based on analysis of geological models from the airborne and ground geophysics, as well as surface and sub-surface geochemical sampling, and were ultimately confirmed by diamond drilling.

By the end of this year, the company expects to have completed more than 166,000 metres of diamond drilling, including 36,000 metres completed in 2023.

Drilling is continuing at Kitoko to define the extent of mineralization. When that is confirmed, Ivanhoe said it will begin infill resource drilling. Exploration will also continue to test other targets in conjunction with the continued drilling of Kitoko in 2024 and beyond.

“This year’s drilling success proves that our geological team has the ability to unearth further major copper discoveries across the Western Foreland,” Friedland said. “We are fortunate to control such a large exploration land package with tier-one potential, in the identical geological domain as the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex, the world’s greenest and fastest-growing major copper mining complex.”