Ivanhoe Mines reports a record 269,000 tonnes of ore grading 5.36% copper produced in December at its Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kallanish reports.

Those results from the Kakula and Kansoko mines are accelerating both grade and tonnage of copper ore added to the project’s surface stockpiles. The tonnage was 7.6% higher than what had been achieved in November and the monthly copper grade increased by 10.5%. The stockpiles now contain 1.52 million tonnes grading 4.03% copper with more than 61,000 t of copper.

The December tonnage included 55,000 t grading 8.75% copper from the high-grade centre of the Kakula Mine. The thickness of the high-grade copper ore has allowed the expansion of development drifts to 10 m high by 7.5 m wide in the Kakula Mine.

The Canada-based company also reported that a record underground development of 2,792 m was completed in December. To date, 29.8 kilometres are complete, about 10.5 km ahead of schedule.

Overall, the first phase of the Kamoa-Kakula project is 68% complete with the first copper concentrate production on track to begin in July 2021, the company says. The first phase is projected to produce 3.8m t/y. The project will begin production at a time when copper prices are expected to rise in 2021 and beyond and that is good news, says Ivanhoe co-chairman Robert Friedland in a statement.

The project is projected to be the world’s highest-grade major copper mine and when fully operational will be the world’s second biggest copper complex in the world, producing 19m t/y of ore and 800,000t of copper.

The Kansoko Mine in the Kamoa Deposit is about 10 km north of the Kakula Mine in the Kolwezi District of Linalaba in the DRC. The project is a joint venture involving Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Ltd (0.8%) and the DRC government (20%).

About 6,300 workers are employed in constructing the mines and related facilities.