Commissioning of Kamoa-Kakula’s state-of-the-art 500,000-tonne-per-annum direct-to-blister copper smelter has started. Credit: Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) says its Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached a “major turning point” following a sizeable increase in imported hydroelectric power in recent weeks enabling the start-up of its new on-site smelter.
According to the Vancouver-headquartered miner, the amount of imported hydroelectric power at Kamoa increased by 40% — or 20 megawatts (MW) — to 70 MW in mid-March, and is expected to increase further to 100 MW over recent weeks.
Kamoa has been drawing 50 MW of domestically generated hydroelectricity and another 50 MW from imports to power the three-phased operation, which requires 130 to 140 MW to run. The balance of the required power was generated from on-site.
The increase in imported…
