Modern Mining September 2021

milling throughput in excess of design capacity. A third concentrate filter is being procured and will be incorporated into the Phase 2 plant,” says Amos. By the end of October 2021, the additional con- centrate filter should be installed, allowing the Phase 1 concentrator to produce more copper than its design capacity of 200 000 t per year. All concentrate generated by the Phase 1 Concentrator plant to date has been loaded onto trucks, either in bulk for delivery to the Lualaba Copper Smelter, or in bags for international export, and the concentrate backlog at the mine site has been cleared. Additionally, Kamoa Copper’s surface stock- piles continue to grow. Stockpiles currently contain approximately 3,59-Mt of high-grade and medium- grade ore with a blended average copper content of 4,77%. At the end of August 2021, contained copper in surface stockpiles totalled more than 171 000 t. Phase 2 Additionally, the construction of the second 3.8-Mtpa concentrator plant (Phase 2) is progressing smoothly and is currently 49% complete (still on schedule to be completed in the third quarter of 2022). Engineering and procurement activities are essentially com- plete, with fabrication in excess of 85% complete. All structural steel, platework and piping has been fabricated with the bulk already delivered to site, most of the long lead items of equipment have also

end of October 2021, will further boost copper production. “The fast tracking of an additional concentrate fil- ter will enable us to produce more concentrate and take advantage of the exceptional ore grades com- ing from the Kakula Mine, as well as any additional

The side-by-side Phase 1 and Phase 2 concentrator plants.

September 2021  MODERN MINING  15