Drilling extends strike length of the new, shallow, thick ‘Kamoa North Bonanza Zone’ to at least 350 metres, with an implied strike length of at least 2.7 kilometres Assays confirm copper grades up to 18.48% over 13.6 metres
May 2, 2019
Drilling extends strike length of the new, shallow, thick
‘Kamoa North Bonanza Zone’ to at least 350 metres,
with an implied strike length of at least 2.7 kilometres
Assays confirm copper grades up to 18.48% over 13.6 metres
in the new discovery area
Four rigs drilling at Kamoa North to delineate the extent
of the discovery and assess its potential to be fast-tracked
to production to increase Kamoa-Kakula’s early copper grades
East-west-striking fault structure associated with the Kamoa
North Bonanza Zone can be traced for up to 20 kilometres
onto the adjacent Western Foreland exploration licences
that are 100%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines
Drilling extends the nine-kilometre corridor of shallow, high-grade
copper at the Kamoa Far North discovery to the boundary
of Ivanhoe’s Western Foreland licences
KOLWEZI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Robert Friedland and Yufeng “Miles”
Sun, Co-Chairmen of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF), announced today
that the strike length of the shallow, thick, massive copper sulphide mineralization at
Kamoa North that was discovered earlier this year in drill hole DD1450 on the Kamoa-
Kakula mining licence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) − 13.05% copper over
22.3 metres (true thickness), at a 2% copper cut-off grade − has been significantly
extended by assays received from ongoing drilling.
Recent drilling has confirmed that the discovery zone of bonanza-grade copper
mineralization at Kamoa North ─ the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone ─ is continuous over a
strike length of at least 350 metres and a width of up to 60 metres. The mineralized zone
has a drilled thickness of between six and 30 metres, and is approximately 170 to 220
metres below surface, with grades ranging as high as 18.48% copper over 13.6 metres,
at both a 2% and a 3% cut-off grade.
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The Kamoa North Bonanza Zone represents a new style of copper mineralization at
Kamoa-Kakula, where massive to semi-massive chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite
have locally replaced pyrite in the Kamoa Pyritic Siltstone (KPS) – a pyritic siltstone that
lies immediately above the basal diamictite unit that typically hosts the copper
mineralization at Kamoa-Kakula.
Assay results for 10 new holes have been received from the Kamoa North drilling (see
Table 1 on page 15 for a complete list of assays).
Significant new drilling intercepts at the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone include:
DD1486 intersected 16.70 metres of 15.84% copper, at a 3% and 2% copper cut-off, in
semi-massive sulphide KPS-hosted mineralization, beginning at a downhole depth of
215 metres; and 17.46 metres of 15.21% copper at a 1% cut-off.
DD1494 intersected 13.15 metres of 9.88% copper, at a 3%, 2% and 1% copper cut-
off, in semi-massive sulphide KPS-hosted mineralization, beginning at a downhole
depth of 215.50 metres.
DD1497 intersected 13.60 metres of 18.48% copper, at a 3% and 2% copper cut-off, in
semi-massive sulphide KPS-hosted mineralization, beginning at a downhole depth of
208.00 metres; and 30.37 metres of 8.90% copper at a 1% cut-off.
DD1498 intersected 16.48 metres of 10.94% copper, at a 3% and 2% copper cut-off, in
semi-massive sulphide KPS-hosted mineralization, beginning at a downhole depth of
222 metres; and 16.48 metres of 10.94% copper at a 1% cut-off.
DD1499 intersected 16.93 metres of 11.31% copper, at a 3% copper cut-off, and 17.35
metres of 11.10% copper, at a 2% copper cut-off, in semi-massive sulphide KPS-
hosted mineralization, beginning at a downhole depth of 205 metres; and 18.35
metres of 10.57% copper at a 1% cut-off.
DD1504 intersected 21.25 metres of 13.32% copper, at a 3%, 2% and 1% copper cut-
off, in semi-massive sulphide KPS-hosted mineralization, beginning at a downhole
depth of 211.15 metres.
“After more than 10 years of exploration on the 400-square-kilometre Kamoa-Kakula
licence area, it is highly encouraging that we still are making new discoveries of thick
zones of massive sulphide with copper grades in excess of 18%,” said Dr. David
Broughton, Ivanhoe’s Senior Advisor, Exploration and Geology.
“The grades and thicknesses encountered at shallow depths at the new Kamoa North
discovery are truly exceptional. These results underscore the world-class status of the
Kamoa-Kakula Project, as well as the outstanding potential for major new copper
discoveries on our adjoining 100%-owned Western Foreland exploration licences.”
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Discovery of the new style of KPS-hosted mineralization at Kamoa North
opens the door to multiple exploration opportunities at Kamoa -Kakula
and the adjoining Western Foreland ground
The ultra-high copper grades intercepted to date in the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone are
believed to be the result of the controlling east-west growth fault structure having
allowed oxidized, copper-rich brines to bypass the lower redox interface at the Roan-
Nguba contact that is the typical mineralized horizon at Kamoa-Kakula. Instead, the
copper-rich brines accessed the overlying, highly-sulphidic and reduced KPS, resulting
in a new, upper mineralized zone hosted in the KPS and characterized by the bonanza-
grade copper found in the vicinity of hole DD1450.
The growth fault structure is characterized by a wide zone of sub-parallel, low-angle,
fault planes dipping at approximately 40 degrees to the south through the KPS (see
Figure 4). Replacement of pyrite in the vicinity of these fault planes, as a result of a
combination of cross-stratal and stratabound fluid flow, has created a 50-to 60-metre-
wide zone of mineralization that transects the KPS from top in the north to bottom in the
south.
Pyrite is an excellent reductant, and consequently in many places the pyrite has been
completely replaced by chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite (see figures 7, 8 and 9). The
copper content of chalcopyrite is approximately 35%, while the copper content of
bornite is approximately 63% and is nearly 80% for chalcocite.
The Kamoa North Bonanza Zone remains open along a westerly-easterly strike for a
considerable distance. An east-west lineament, thought to represent the controlling
growth structure, can be traced in aeromagnetic data for up to 20 kilometres, across the
western side of the Kamoa-Kakula Mining Licence and onto Ivanhoe’s adjoining, 100%-
owned Western Foreland exploration licences (see Figure 2).
The controlling east-west structure was previously intersected in holes DD0015, DD1200
and DD1396 that were drilled as part of an earlier, wide-spaced resource delineation
drilling program. The recent, detailed drilling in the hole DD1450 discovery area has led
Kamoa geologists to consider that these earlier holes may have intercepted the same
structure that hosts the KPS bonanza-grade copper, inferring a corridor of high-grade
copper of at least 2.7 kilometres. See Figure 2 for the location of holes DD0015, DD1200
and DD1396, and Table 1 for the composite assays.
“The recognition of this new, structurally-controlled KPS-hosted copper mineralization
has opened up multiple new, high-priority exploration targets at Kamoa-Kakula and on
Ivanhoe’s Western Foreland licences,” said David Edwards, Geology Manager for the
Kamoa-Kakula Project.
Three additional drill rigs have been added at Kamoa North, bringing the total to four, to
accelerate testing along the strike of the east-west trending structure. Twenty-one drill
holes now have been completed along the mineralized trend and assays are pending for
11 recent holes.
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Kamoa North rapidly emerging as a prospective, ultra-high-grade resource
area with the potential to be fast-tracked to development and increase
Kamoa-Kakula’s early copper grades
Given the shallow depth, remarkable thickness and massive copper sulphide
mineralization discovered within the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone, Kamoa-Kakula’s
engineers are evaluating potential options to accelerate the development of this new
discovery. Based on the shallow depth of the high-grade mineralized intercepts to date,
the discovery zone may be accessed by way of a surface box-cut and decline, similar to
those at the Kakula and Kansoko deposits, in a relatively short time-frame.
Any material mined at Kamoa North could be processed at a nearby, standalone plant,
or hauled to the plant that will be constructed at Kakula. This has the potential of
significantly increasing the copper grades during the initial stages of production at
Kamoa-Kakula.
“Kamoa North is a unique opportunity to potentially enhance the project’s initial cash
flows,” said Mr. Friedland. “Our objective now is to move quickly to an initial resource
estimate, providing the basis for our engineers to assess the impact that early mining
and processing of the bonanza-grade material will have on the project’s economics.”
The Kamoa North discovery is on the Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, approximately 18
kilometres north of the project’s planned initial mine and milling facility at the Kakula
Deposit and approximately eight kilometres north of another planned mine − Kansoko −
at the Kamoa Deposit.
Drilling also is continuing at the Kamoa Far North discovery, located north of the
Kamoa North Bonanza Zone, near the northern border of Kamoa-Kakula mining licence.
Exploration in this area is targeting a “typical” Kamoa-Kakula mineralized horizon,
which follows a north-south-trending corridor of high-grade copper (see Figure 1).
Drilling to date has extended the corridor of shallow, high-grade copper mineralization
at the Kamoa Far North discovery to the northern border of the Kamoa-Kakula mining
licence and within 15 metres of Ivanhoe’s 100%-owned Western Foreland exploration
licences.
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Figure 1: Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, showing the Kamoa North Area,
the Kamoa Far North Area, the planned mines at Kakula and Kansoko,
and part of the 100%-owned Western Foreland exploration licences.
6
Figure 2: Location plan map of the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone (drill intercepts
shown at a 2% copper cut-off).
The Kamoa-Kakula Project is approximately 25 kilometres west of the mining
centre of Kolwezi in the DRC. It is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin
Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%) and the DRC government
(20%). Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining are co-funding development of the Kamoa-Kakula
Copper Project.
Based on existing mineral resources, Kamoa-Kakula has been independently ranked as
the world’s fourth-largest copper deposit and Kamoa-Kakula’s copper grades are the
highest, by a wide margin, of the world’s top 10 copper deposits.
Kamoa-Kakula is unique as it combines ultra-high copper grades in thick, shallow and
relatively flat-lying deposits ─ allowing for large-scale, highly-productive, mechanized
underground mining operations. Kakula, the first of multiple planned mines expected to
be placed into production at Kamoa-Kakula, is projected to have an average grade of
6.8% copper over the initial five years of operations, and 6.4% copper over the first 10
years ─ grades that are orders of magnitude higher than the majority of the world’s
other major copper mines.
7
Figure 3: Plan view of Kamoa North Bonanza Zone drill-hole collars and
interpreted high-grade corridor (drill intercepts shown at a 2% copper cut-off).
8
Drill intersections for the holes in this release are reported as drilled thicknesses
pending more detailed drilling and analysis; however, preliminary interpretation of drill
sections indicates that the majority of drill holes transected the zone at approximately
perpendicular angles (see Figure 4 below for an illustration).
Figure 4 shows the diamictite layer (in white) that is the typical mineralized horizon at
Kamoa and Kakula, as well as the overlying KPS siltstone layer (in yellow) that hosts
the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone mineralization.
Figure 4: Section view through the Kamoa North Bonanza Zone.