Modern Mining September 2021

technologies. We plan to introduce them into our mining fleet as soon as they become commercially available,” he adds. Massive investments are needed to electrify economies around the globe. The US power grid, for example, needs US$10-trillion and ‘astronomic amounts’ of the right metals to get up to scratch. Greening the grid will be a massive undertaking, requiring new forms of power generation – wind, solar and nuclear, as well as thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines and power storage – all of which will require a small planet’s worth of cop- per, iron, cobalt, aluminium, lithium and rare earths, virtually every kind of mineral and metal found in the earth’s crust. 

of more than 6% copper over the first five years of operations and 5,9% copper over the initial 10 years of operations. Phase 1 is expected to produce approximately 200 000 t of copper per year, while the Phase 2 expansion is forecast to increase production to approximately 400 000 t of copper annually. Based on independent benchmarking, the project’s phased expansion scenario to 19 Mtpa would position Kamoa as the world’s second-largest copper mining com- plex, with peak annual copper production of more than 800 000 t. As developed economies adopt net-zero emis- sions targets and focus on ‘green’ recovery, metals and minerals may one day replace oil as the world’s top traded commodity. The copper mining industry should now be seen as part of the solution in global decarbonisation and climate change. The world is yet to grasp the scale of disruption in replacing fossil fuels, with most people in urban areas unaware of where materials in everyday life come from. “Given the extraordinarily high copper grades and access to abundant clean, renewable hydropower, Kamoa Copper is uniquely positioned to achieve the net-zero operational target much sooner than other major copper producers,” says Farren. “ We are working closely with our mining equip- ment suppliers to decrease the use of fossil fuels in our mining fleet, and evaluate the viability, safety and performance of new electric, hydrogen and hybrid

The Phase 2 concentrator plant under construction in the foreground, with the operating Phase 1 concentrator plant in the background.

Quick take  Hot commissioning and ramp-up of Kamoa Kakula’s Phase 1 concentrator plant is approaching steady-state-design performance  The installation of an additional concentrate filter, expected by the end of October 2021, will further boost copper production  Construction of the second 3,8-Mtpa concentrator plant (Phase 2) is pro- gressing smoothly and is currently 44% complete (still on schedule to be completed in the third quarter of 2022)  Kamoa Copper is projected to be the world’s highest-grade major copper mine, with an initial mining rate of 3,8 Mtpa at an estimated average feed grade of approximately 6% copper over the first five years of operations and 5,9% copper over the initial 10 years of operations

September 2021  MODERN MINING  17