Modern Mining August 2019

COMMENT

Ivanhoe’s ‘big three’ make great progress

W hat would the mining industry in Southern Africa do without Ivanhoe Mines and its trio of ‘big ticket’ projects – Platreef, Kamoa- Kakula and Kipushi? After all, apart from these three developments, there are very few really big mining projects now underway in our region, with the exception of the Venetia Underground Project (VUP) in South Africa, a US$2 billion investment by De Beers, and the nearly US$400 million Zone 5 underground mine of Cupric Canyon in Botswana. The closest to home of the trio is, of course, the Platreef PGM project near Mokopane in Limpopo Province. According to Ivanhoe’s latest quarterly, this is shaping up well. Shaft 1, which is technically a vent shaft, has now reached a depth of over 900 m below surface and is due to reach its final depth of 982 m early next year while Shaft 2, the roughly 1 100 m-deep main shaft (which will be the largest in Africa in terms of hoisting capacity), has progressed to the point where the foundation for the 103-m tall concrete headgear has now been completed. The interesting news with respect to Platreef is that Ivanhoe is investigating whether it can cut capi- tal and accelerate first production by using Shaft 1 as the mine’s initial production shaft. Ivanhoe’s other projects are both in the southern DRC, with Kamoa-Kakula being in Lualaba Province and Kipushi in Katanga. Kamoa-Kakula is a greenfield development while Kipushi is very much a brown- field project designed to exploit the so-called ‘Big Zinc’ zone of the historic Kipushi mine. The progress being made at Kamoa-Kakula by Ivanhoe and its JV partner, Zijin Mining, is impres- sive, with development of the 6 Mt/a Kakula mine well advanced with the first underground access drives now very close to intersecting Kakula’s initial high-grade ore and earthworks for the processing plant underway. The mine is due to produce its first concentrate in the third quarter of 2021. The Kakula mine is just the start. Additional mines at Kansoko and Kakula West could see an eventual production rate of 18 Mt/a or more being achieved, with the peak annual copper production being more than 700 000 t/a – which would make the Kamoa-Kakula complex the world’s second larg- est copper mine after Escondida in Chile, which in

2018 produced a mammoth 1,2 Mt or so of copper, more than the entire copper production of the DRC (or Zambia, for that matter). The latest news from Kamoa-Kakula is that drilling in the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone has intersected the highest-grade intersection ever drilled at the project, with an estimated grade – derived, it must be said, from Niton (XRF) analysis of the core – of 18,0 % copper over 18,86 m at a 2 % cut-off. Assays are pending but Ivanhoe says there is a high correla- tion between Niton readings and laboratory assays based on more than 1 570 holes drilled to date at the project. Turning to Kipushi, this is in the DFS phase. According to the PFS completed in late 2017, the mine has the capacity to produce an average of 381 000 tonnes of zinc concentrate over an initial, 11-year mine life at a cash cost of approximately US$0,48 per pound of zinc – which would certainly make it one of the biggest zinc mines in the world. While the DFS proceeds, Ivanhoe continues to modernise the mine’s underground infrastructure in preparation for a resumption of operations. Ivanhoe’s ability to work simultaneously on these three big projects is quite remarkable as even the biggest names in world mining would be challenged by such an intense work programme. The company is to be commended for what is being achieved. Arthur Tassell

Additional mines at Kansoko and Kakula West could see an eventual production rate of 18 Mt/a or more being achieved, with the peak annual copper production being more than 700 000 t/a.

Testing the ventilation at the 750-m-level station of the Platreef’s Shaft 1 (photo: Ivanhoe).

Editor Arthur Tassell e-mail: mining@crown.co.za Advertising Manager Bennie Venter e-mail: benniev@crown.co.za Design & Layout Darryl James Circulation Brenda Grossmann

Publisher Karen Grant

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