Cost of Ivanhoe’s giant copper project in Congo hits $1.3 billion – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 8, 2019)

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Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) said Friday that initial capital costs for its Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is now estimated at $1.3 billion, and 18% increase over planned costs.

The fresh figure, which includes expanded plant capacity, additional mining fleets and pre-production ore stockpile, will allow the company to begin production at the mine in the third quarter of 2021, Ivanhoe said.

Capacity of Kakula’s processing plant modules increased by 26% in the three months to Sep. 30, from 3 Mtpa to 3.8 Mtpa, significantly boosting projected early-stage copper production, the Toronto-based miner noted.

Billionaire Robert Friedland’s company has been working on Kamoa-Kakula for ten years. In 2015, China’s Zijin Mining Group got on board, becoming Ivanhoe’s partner in the project. Citic Metal, another Chinese firm, followed suit last year, becoming Ivanhoe’s largest shareholder.

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