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Ivanhoe Mines cuts copper export times by over 50 per cent

 Trevor Abes Trevor Abes , The Market Online
0 Comments| January 2, 2024

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  • Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) is celebrating its first shipment of copper concentrate from its Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Congo to the Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito in Angola
  • The 1,110-tonne shipment utilizes a rail line that cuts current export travel times by more than 50 per cent
  • Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining stock advancing three major metals projects in southern Africa
  • Ivanhoe Mines stock (TSX:IVN) has gained approximately 17 per cent year-over-year and more than 400 per cent over the past five years

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) is celebrating its first shipment of copper concentrate from its Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Congo to the Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito in Angola.

The 1,110-tonne shipment is part of a trial of up to 10,000 tonnes under a memorandum of understanding between Kamoa Copper S.A. and Lobito Atlantic International SARL.

The rail line, known as the Lobito Atlantic Railway Corridor, will enable savings in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, transit times and operating costs, compared with the current practice of driving the concentrate to ports in Durban, South Africa, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as well as Beira, Mozambique and Walvis Bay, Namibia.

While 90 per cent of Kamoa-Kakula‘s concentrates in 2023 were exported through Durban and Dar es Salaam, entailing a round trip of 40-50 days, the shipment arrived at the Lobito port in just eight days.

Kamoa-Kakula generated US$2.15 billion in revenue in 2022 through the production of 333,497 tonnes of copper. The company issued 2023 production guidance between 390,000 and 430,000 tonnes at cash costs between US$1.40-1.50 per pound.

“Our first trial shipment is an important milestone on the path to creating a new supply chain linking the Central African Copperbelt to world markets,” Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Mines’ founder and executive co-chairman, said in a statement. Establishing a reliable, modern rail link to the port of Lobito in Angola will have transformational benefits for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Angola and Zambia. Steel wheels going downhill on steel rails, from over 3,000 feet elevation at Kamoa-Kakula down to sea level at Lobito, will lower the cost and carbon footprint associated with producing and exporting our 99.7 per cent copper blister anodes across the Copperbelt. Further improvements are possible through the use of technology, such as battery-electric locomotives recently launched by Wabtec Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which are capable of generating electricity as they go downhill.”

“Lower logistical costs unlocked by the Lobito Corridor, together with our hydro-electric development projects in the DRC, with over 98 per cent of electricity in the country already being generated by cheap, green hydropower, equate to lower cut-off grades and increase the amount of economically recoverable copper in the region. This infrastructure investment is even more important for projects like the Western Foreland, following the recent high-grade and open-ended Kitoko copper discovery and our Makoko-Kiala mineral resources, as we significantly increase exploration and development activities across this vast copper basin in search of our next world-class copper discovery. The world desperately needs the ultra-green copper metal that Ivanhoe Mines produces in the DRC,” he added.

Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining stock advancing three main projects in southern Africa:

  • The Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Congo, which is expected to yield 650,000 tonnes of copper in Q4 2024
  • The Platreef palladium-rhodium-platinum-nickel-copper-gold project in South Africa, which boasts a phase-II annual production forecast of more than 590,000 ounces of platinum group metals and gold, as well as more than 40 million pounds of nickel and copper
  • The restart of the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine in the Congo, which is slated to yield life-of-mine average annual zinc production of 240,000 tonnes with C1 cash costs of US$0.65/lb of payable zinc

The company is also pursuing new copper discoveries across its 2,400 square kilometres of 80-100 per cent owned licenses, as well as 247 square kilometres of joint venture licenses, in the Congo’s Western Foreland adjacent to Kamoa-Kakula.

Ivanhoe Mines stock (TSX:IVN) is down by 0.70 per cent, trading at C$12.76 per share as of 9:48 am ET. The stock has gained approximately 17 per cent year-over-year and more than 400 per cent over the past five years.

Join the discussion: Find out what everybody’s saying about this Canadian mining stock on the Ivanhoe Mines Bullboard, and check out the rest of Stockhouse’s stock forums and message boards.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. For full disclaimer information, please click here.




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