Modern Mining July 2019

MINING News

The sessions are designed to create awareness of the importance of STEM subjects and to provide the students with practical tools and routes to access engi- neering and technology careers. They will be followed by a regional GirlEng pro- gramme, where 60 students chosen from the earlier sessions are eligible for a spon- sored two-day Innovation Boot-Camp in Johannesburg in March 2020. Students will also be provided with support for univer- sity and scholarship applications, as well as exposure to mining environments. WomEng, founded in South Africa in 2006, has run programmes in 19 countries and reached more than 50 000 girls and women studying STEM subjects. They are currently partnering with UNESCO on their #1MillionGirlsinSTEM goal. Aditi Lachman, WomEng Programme Coordinator, said: “The event, hosted by De Beers Group, solidified our WomEng-De Beers Group relationship and collective commitment to developing young engi- neering leaders with skills of the future. The future looks bright and we are excited.” 

New road link for Kamoa-Kakula copper project With the onset of the dry season in the DRC, Ivanhoe Mines, listed on the TSX, reports that fast progress is being made on the construction of the new highway directly linking the Kamoa-Kakula copper project to Kolwezi airport, located south-east of the city of Kolwezi.

system, via a planned new border crossing. This proposed heavy-haul route to Zambia would significantly streamline truck freight to and from Kamoa-Kakula. The Kamoa-Kakula joint venture is con- structing 19 kmof the roadwhile the Lualaba provincial government is constructing the remaining 15 km under a toll concession agreement with a DRC-based contracting company. The toll road will also include a new northbound, 9 km section of road con- necting all the mines on the western side of Kolwezi to the new provincial road. A separate 8 km, private mine access road is also being constructed by the Kamoa-Kakula joint venture at Kamoa- Kakula to safely by-pass the villages of Israel and Kaponda. This road is also expected to be fully operational by the end of 2019 and will connect the Kakula mine directly to the new 34 km provincial road. The private mine road will be available for transporting ore mined elsewhere on the Kamoa-Kakula project to the Kakula concentrator for processing. 

The new 34 km, east-west road is over 25 % complete and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2019. It will significantly improve Kamoa-Kakula’s trans- portation corridor that is being used to bring in mining equipment and construction materials, and that will be used to transport copper concentrates. The new road will also improve the safety and commuting time for employees between Kamoa-Kakula and Kolwezi and Lubumbashi, as well as for mine visitors arriving at Kolwezi airport. The road will provide Kamoa-Kakula with a direct, high-quality connection to the national road between Kolwezi and Lubumbashi, and to a proposed, new south- bound provincial road that will connect to Lumwana, Zambia and the Zambian rail

July 2019  MODERN MINING  9