Modern Mining January 2023

PLATREEF PROJECT

Ivanplats starts concentrator construction and

TSX-listed mining company Ivanhoe Mines’ South African subsidiary, Ivanplats, is underway with the next major step required to bring the first phase of its tier-one Platreef palladium, rhodium, nickel, platinum, copper and gold project in South Africa into commercial production. The construction of the Phase 1 concentrator plant has started and is the last crucial development step in Platreef’s journey from discovery to first production. By Chantelle Kotze .

I vanhoe Mines is at the vanguard of the global shift towards net-zero carbon emissions with a diverse portfolio of the critical raw materials required for the global transition from fossil-fuelled transporta tion and energy generation to electric vehicles and renewable power. Within its portfolio of green metals, Ivanhoe Mines has copper – an irreplaceable element for advanced energy technology including electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels – and platinum group met als – which have an integral role to play in several clean technologies. Also in its portfolio is platinum, palladium, and rhodium – critical metals used in vehicle pollution-control devices, while platinum is also vital for zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell tech nology. The portfolio further contains nickel – a key metal needed for electric vehicle batteries, and zinc – used in solar panels and wind turbines. Armed with a solid and proven foundation built on bringing the first two phases of the world-class Kamoa Copper Mining Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into production, Ivanhoe is confidently moving ahead with the development of its second world-class asset – Platreef, and work is in progress to restart zinc mining operations at its

historic ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-germa nium-silver mine, also in the DRC. On track to become one of the world’s largest primary PGM producers Located on the Northern Limb of the renowned, platinum-rich Bushveld Complex in the Limpopo Province, and adjacent to Anglo American Platinum’s Mogalakwena mine, the Platreef project hosts an underground deposit of thick, platinum-group met als, nickel, copper and gold. Since 2007, Ivanplats has focused its exploration and development activities on defining and advanc ing its original discovery at Platreef, now known as the Flatreef deposit. What makes the Flatreef ore body unique is its high-grade mineralisation, its palladium-to-platinum ratio of approximately 1:1 and its amenability to bulk-scale, highly mechanised, underground mining methods. To date, Shaft 1 – which will provide the initial access point to the Flatreef deposit, and which will serve as Platreef’s initial production shaft – has been successfully established. Three development sta tions have been completed on the 750-, 850-, and 950-metre levels and in May 2022, Ivanplats

Ivanhoe Mines president, Marna Cloete.

Left: Platreef’s Shaft 1 headframe and surface infrastructure.

Below: Civil construction activities and preparations for Shaft 2 sinking are well underway.

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30  MODERN MINING  January 2023