Ivanhoe Mines reports Q3 2024 production results
October 7, 2024
Ivanhoe Mines reports Q3 2024 production results
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Kamoa-Kakula milled a record 3.3 million tonnes, producing a
record 116,313 tonnes of copper in concentrate during Q3, with
the Phase 3 concentrator in ramp-up
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Phase 3 concentrator ramp-up approaching steady-state
throughput and recovery as at quarter end
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Kamoa-Kakula’s 2024 production guidance range adjusted to
425,000 – 450,000 tonnes of copper
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Kipushi produced 17,817 tonnes of zinc in concentrate during
ramp-up in Q3 2024
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Kipushi’s 2024 production guidance range lowered to 50,000 –
70,000 tonnes of zinc
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Kipushi concentrator now achieving recoveries in excess of
90%, as ramp-up continues to commercial production
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Ivanhoe Mines to issue Q3 2024 financial results and host
conference call for investors on October 30
KOLWEZI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO – Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN;
OTCQX: IVPAF) Executive Co-Chair Robert Friedland and President Marna Cloete
announced today that during the third quarter of 2024, the Kamoa-Kakula Copper
Complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) produced a record
116,313 tonnes of copper in concentrate and the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc
mine, also in the DRC, produced 17,817 tonnes of zinc in concentrate.
Year-to-date, Kamoa-Kakula has produced 303,328 tonnes of copper in
concentrate. In addition, Kamoa-Kakula produced 40,025 tonnes of copper during
September, achieving a record daily production rate of 1,334 tonnes of copper per
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day over the 30-day month. The average daily production rate increased further
during the final week of September to 1,460 tonnes of copper per day.
Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 1 and 2 concentrators milled approximately 2.2 million
tonnes of ore during the third quarter at an average feed grade of 4.9% copper.
Quarterly copper production from the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators was 94,214
tonnes, at an average recovery rate of 86.6%.
Kamoa-Kakula’s Phase 3 concentrator, which produced first concentrate on June
10, 2024, milled approximately 1.1 million tonnes of ore during the third quarter at
an average feed grade of 2.6% copper. The feed to the concentrator during the
quarter was predominantly from historical surface stockpiles. The Phase 3
concentrator, which achieved commercial production during the quarter,
produced 22,099 tonnes of copper in concentrate at a recovery rate of 79.9%,
reflecting the ongoing ramp-up.
Following the commissioning of the Phase 3 concentrator’s fine-grinding mills in
early September, sustained improvements in processing throughput and
recovery rates were achieved. During the last week of September, the
concentrator milled 117,484 tonnes, which is equivalent to an annualized
processing rate of over 5.5 million tonnes per annum, after accounting for
availability. In addition, over the same period, the copper recovery rate of the
concentrator increased to an average of 84%. Kamoa’s operations team expects
to reach the nameplate recovery rate of 86% during the fourth quarter, thereby
achieving steady-state production. In addition, the team are also targeting to
increase the feed grade to the Phase 3 concentrator up to approximately 3% by
Q1 2025, while ore reserves continue to be developed towards the higher-grade
zones in the Kamoa 1 and Kamoa 2 underground mines.
At quarter end, total on-site backup power generation capacity is 135 MW,
following the installation and commissioning of an additional 72 MW of
generators during the quarter. The on-site backup power capacity is sufficient to
power Kamoa-Kakula’s Phase 1 and 2 concentrators at full capacity in the event
of intermittent power. Kamoa’s project team remains on schedule to have 201 MW
of installed on-site backup power generation capacity by year-end. In addition,
imported power from the Southern African Power Pool, via the Zambian
interconnector, stands at 65 MW at quarter end. Negotiations are underway to
increase imported power to over 100 MW by the end of the year.
Kamoa-Kakula 2024 Production Guidance
Previous guidance 440,000 – 490,000 Contained copper in concentrate (tonnes)
Revised guidance 425,000 – 450,000 Contained copper in concentrate (tonnes)
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All figures are on a 100%-project basis and metal reported in concentrate is
before refining losses or payability deductions associated with smelter terms.
Revised guidance reflects production lost due to intermittent grid power, in
particular prior to the installation of additional on-site generator capacity and
agreements in place to import power to support power consumption from the
DRC grid. Guidance also considers the commissioning of the Phase 3
concentrator, which now is nearing steady-state as at the end of the quarter.
Kamoa-Kakula’s revised 2024 production guidance is based on several
assumptions and estimates as of September 30, 2024. Guidance involves
estimates of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the actual results to differ materially.
Construction of Kamoa-Kakula’s 500,000 tonnes per annum smelter is on
schedule for construction completion by end of year.
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The smelter construction site includes a milling and flotation plant designed to
reprocess slag generated by the smelter, taking overall recoveries to
approximately 98%.
New Kipushi concentrator ramping up to commercial production
Following first concentrate production on June 14, 2024, ramp-up of Kipushi’s
concentrator continued during the third quarter. Kipushi's concentrator milled
approximately 88,000 tonnes of stockpile ore during the third quarter at an
average feed grade of 27.1% zinc. Quarterly zinc production from the
concentrator was 17,817 tonnes, at an average flotation recovery rate of 72.0%.
Exports of zinc concentrate also commenced towards the end of the quarter.
Ramp up of Kipushi’s concentrator to its annual steady-state production rate of
over 250,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate has been slower than anticipated,
principally due to three factors: first, ore mined and stockpiled from the top of the
Big Zinc orebody has a higher iron content, which was negatively impacting
concentrator recoveries prior to reagent adjustments being made; second, ore
feed into the dense media separation (DMS) circuit contains a higher than
expected proportion of fine material (fines), which is limiting throughput; and
third, the increase in power requirement, from 5 MW used during construction to
18 MW for operations, has exposed transmission bottlenecks in the local grid
infrastructure.
During the latter part of September, the Kipushi concentrator regularly operated
at its nameplate throughput of 83 tonnes per hour (800,000 tonnes per annum on
an annualized basis). However, the above operational disruptions have inhibited
the nameplate throughput from being sustained on a daily basis. While the
concentrator’s metallurgical recoveries have now improved to over 90%,
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targeting a design rate of approximately 95%, a work program is underway to
separate the ore fines upstream of the DMS, as well as upgrade the local grid
infrastructure. This work program will be carried out concurrently with the
debottlenecking program. As a result, the full-year production guidance range for
Kipushi has been reduced from 100,000 – 140,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate,
to 50,000 – 70,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate.
Underground development continues to progress ahead of schedule. Year-to-
date, over 3,000 metres of underground development has been completed year to
date, approximately 100 metres ahead of schedule.
As of September 30, 2024, a total of 360,000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of
23% zinc is stored in surface run-of-mine (ROM) stockpiles near the Kipushi
concentrator. This includes a high-grade section of 150,000 tonnes of ore at an
average grade of 30% zinc.
Kipushi debottlenecking program underway
Engineering and procurement of long-lead order equipment items are well
underway for the Kipushi debottlenecking program. The debottlenecking of the
Kipushi concentrator is targeting a 20% increase in concentrator processing
capacity to 960,000 tonnes of ore per annum. The debottlenecking program is
expected to be completed in mid-2025. There is sufficient capacity to increase
mining and hoisting rates to sustainably support this increased concentrator
throughput.
Kipushi 2024 Production Guidance
Previous guidance 100,000 – 140,000 Contained zinc in concentrate (tonnes)
Revised guidance 50,000 – 70,000 Contained zinc in concentrate (tonnes)
All figures are on a 100%-project basis and metal reported in concentrate is
before refining losses or payability deductions associated with smelter terms.
Kipushi’s revised 2024 production guidance is based on several assumptions and
estimates as of September 30, 2024. Guidance involves estimates of known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results
to differ materially.
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Underground development continues to progress ahead of schedule, with
over 80,000 tonnes of contained zinc in surface ROM stockpiles.
Fully-laden trucks of Kipushi’s zinc concentrate ready for export, with the
Kipushi concentrator (left) and the P5 shaft (centre) in the background.
Exports of concentrate from Kipushi commenced during the quarter.
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Ivanhoe Mines to issue Q3 2024 financial results and host conference
call for investors on October 30
Ivanhoe Mines will report its Q3 2024 financial results, and a detailed update on
its operations, before the market opens on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
The company will hold an investor conference call to discuss the Q3 2024
financial results on the same day at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT. To view the live
webcast use the link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/67hi5owr
Analysts can join by phone for the Q&A using the following link:
https://register.vevent.com/register/BIdca605fc67a44c9188026e3aad0c263d
An audio webcast recording of the conference call, together with supporting
presentation slides, will be available on Ivanhoe Mines’ website at
www.ivanhoemines.com.
After issuance, the Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and
Analysis will be available at www.ivanhoemines.com and www.sedarplus.ca.
Qualified Persons
Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper
Complex and the Kipushi Project (other than stockpiles) in this news release have
been reviewed and approved by Steve Amos, who is considered, by virtue of his
education, experience, and professional association, a Qualified Person under
the terms of NI 43-101. Mr. Amos is not considered independent under NI 43-101
as he is Ivanhoe Mines’ Executive Vice President, Projects. Mr. Amos has verified
the technical data disclosed in this news release.
Other disclosures of a scientific or technical nature regarding the stockpiles in
this news release have been reviewed and approved by Joshua Chitambala, who
is considered, by virtue of his education, experience, and professional
association, a Qualified Person under the terms of NI 43-101. Mr. Chitambala is
not considered independent under NI 43-101 as he is the Resource Manager for
Ivanhoe Mines. Mr. Chitambala has verified the other technical data regarding the
surface stockpiles disclosed in this news release.
Ivanhoe has prepared independent, NI 43-101-compliant technical report for the
Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex and the Kipushi Project, which are available on
the company’s website and under the company’s SEDAR+ profile at
www.sedarplus.ca:
• Kamoa-Kakula Integrated Development Plan 2023 Technical Report dated
March 6, 2023, prepared by OreWin Pty Ltd.; China Nerin Engineering Co.
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Ltd.; DRA Global; Epoch Resources; Golder Associates Africa; Metso
Outotec Oyj; Paterson and Cooke; SRK Consulting Ltd.; and The MSA
Group.
• The Kipushi 2022 Feasibility Study dated February 14, 2022, prepared by
OreWin Pty Ltd., MSA Group (Pty) Ltd., SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty)
Ltd, and METC Engineering.
The technical reports includes relevant information regarding the assumptions,
parameters, and methods of the mineral resource estimates on the Kamoa-Kakula
Copper Complex and the Kipushi Project cited in this news release, as well as
information regarding data verification, exploration procedures and other matters
relevant to the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.
About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three
principal projects in Southern Africa; the expansion of the Kamoa-Kakula Copper
Complex in the DRC, the construction of the tier-one Platreef palladium-nickel-
platinum-rhodium-copper-gold project in South Africa; and the restart of
production at the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine,
also in the DRC.
Ivanhoe Mines also is exploring across circa 1,808 km2 of highly prospective, 60-
100% owned exploration licences in the Western Forelands, located adjacent to
the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the DRC. Ivanhoe is exploring for new
sedimentary copper discoveries, as well as expanding and further defining its
high-grade Makoko, Kiala, and Kitoko copper discoveries as the company’s next
major development projects.
Information contact
Follow Robert Friedland (@robert_ivanhoe) and Ivanhoe Mines (@IvanhoeMines_)
on X.
Investors
Vancouver: Matthew Keevil +1.604.558.1034
London: Tommy Horton +44 7866 913 207
Media
Tanya Todd +1.604.331.9834
Website: www.ivanhoemines.com