Modern Mining May 2021

COPPER

Accelerated construction has seen Kamoa Copper’s first phase 3,8 Mtpa concentrator plant reaching 98% comple- tion as of the end of April. Advanced-stage commissioning is proceeding, with majority of the certificates of construction completion signed off. Production to commence at Kamoa Copper ahead of schedule

L ocated in the Kolwezi District, Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Kamoa-Kakula Copper project has reached a major milestone. Its concentrator C4 commis- sioning phase, which involves the milling of ore and first copper concentrate production, is expected to commence between the end of May and early June 2021. Kamoa Copper is now energised with permanent hydropower, controls, as well as instrumentation checks that are well advanced. Water is being cir- culated in certain areas of the plant, marking the beginning stages of leakage checks, certain instru- ment calibration and control loop checks, which will then lead to the last stage of contracting that involves the processing of ore through the plant to produce a copper concentrate. “Overall construction of Kamoa Copper’s phase one, 3,8 Mtpa concentrator plant and associated facilities is advancing rapidly and is approximately 98% complete as of the end of April. We are very excited about our progress as the start of production at Kamoa Copper marks the beginning of a multi- generational copper mining district, consisting of numerous high-grade mines,” says Ben Munanga, chairman of Kamoa Copper S.A.

Breaking records Kamoa Copper’s April underground mine develop- ment has once again shattered all previous records, with an advancement of more than 3,625 m, bringing total underground development to approximately 42,2 km, more than 15 km ahead of schedule. The mine’s pre-production surface stockpiles currently contain approximately 3-million t of high-grade and medium-grade ore at an estimated blended average of 4,74% copper. Kamoa Copper’s 3-million t target of mined high and medium-grade ore has been reached several months ahead of the time estimated in the 2020 pre- feasible study. Lower grade ore will be fed into the plant during the last stage of construction to ensure plant performance and copper recovery are satisfac- tory before increasing the head grade. Mark Farren, Kamoa Copper’s CEO, comments: “April was another month of great performance by our mining teams, who continue to produce well above plan. We now have reached our 3-million t pre-production stockpile target. This stockpile is likely to grow further as our monthly mining rate cur- rently exceeds the phase one milling rate, and only should be drawn down once the phase two concen- trator begins operation in mid-2022.”

Right: Mill construction during development of the Kamoa-Kakula mine. Below: A flotation platform lift during construction of the initial Kamoa Copper.

18  MODERN MINING  May 2021