Canadian mining firm Ivanhoe Mines has completed construction and produced first concentrate from its Kipushi mine concentrator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it said on Tuesday, 31 years after the Kipushi mine was placed on care and maintenance.
The mine, which produces zinc, copper and lead among other metals, was initially expected to return to production in the third quarter of this year.
The first ore was delivered into the Kipushi concentrator on 31 May, with the first concentrate produced on 14 June. This was "delivered substantially ahead of schedule", Ivanhoe founder Robert Friedland said. A ramp-up is now anticipated in the third quarter. Moreover, a debottlenecking programme is under way to increase the Kipushi concentrator's processing capacity by 20pc to 960,000 t/yr.
Kipushi's production guidance for this year is set at 100,000-140,000t of zinc in concentrate. Production is expected to average 278,000 t/yr of zinc in concentrate over the first five years, making Kipushi the largest zinc mine in Africa and fourth-largest globally, the company said.
Ivanhoe has recently signed offtake agreements with China's Citic Metal and global trading firm Trafigura, with further agreements expected in the coming months.
Ivanhoe's other projects in southern Africa include the expansion of the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex and exploration of the Western Foreland, both also in DRC, and the construction of the tier-one Platreef platinum group metals project in South Africa. The Kamoa-Kakula project is also months ahead of schedule, after it processed its first ore on 26 May.
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