Kamoa Copper appoints Ben Munanga as Chairman of the Board ahead of first production at the tier-one Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine in the DRC
1
April 8, 2021
Kamoa Copper appoints Ben Munanga as Chairman of the Board
ahead of first production at the tier-one Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine in
the DRC
■
Olivier Binyingo, Ivanhoe Mines’ Vice President Public Affairs DRC,
also appointed to Kamoa Copper’s Board
■
Louis Watum appointed General Manager of the Kipushi zinc-copper-
silver project; also serves as President of the Chamber of Mines at the
Federation of Enterprises of Congo
KOLWEZI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; OTCQX:
IVPAF) Co-Chairs Robert Friedland and Yufeng “Miles” Sun are pleased to announce
that Kamoa Copper SA has appointed Ben Munanga as Chairman of its Board of
Directors. Kamoa Copper is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) operating
company of the joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin Mining Group, Crystal River
and the Government of the DRC that is developing the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine.
Mr. Munanga has been the General Manager of Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC (IVEN) – a
sister company of Kamoa Copper that is responsible for delivering reliable, clean,
renewable hydropower to the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine – since August 2015.
About Ben Munanga
Mr. Munanga has served as the General Manager of
Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC (IVEN) since August 2015.
Prior to joining IVEN, Mr. Munanga was the Head of
Power, Infrastructure & Bulk Services with Eurasian
Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) since 2009.
Mr. Munanga is an electrical engineer. He holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Mons, Belgium. He currently is Chairman
of the Energy Commission of the Chamber of Mines.
Before joining the mining industry in 2006, he held
various senior positions in Eskom, South Africa for 11
years.
2
In a concurrent move, Olivier Binyingo, Ivanhoe Mines’ Vice President Public Affairs
DRC, was appointed to the Board of Directors of Kamoa Copper to further enhance
Kamoa Copper’s collaboration with government partners and local communities.
Mr. Munanga replaces Louis Watum as Chairman of Kamoa Copper’s Board of
Directors. Mr. Watum has been appointed General Manager of Ivanhoe’s Kipushi zinc-
copper-silver project, a joint-venture with the DRC state-owned mining company La
Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines). Mr. Watum also serves as President
of the Chamber of Mines at the Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC).
“We would also like to acknowledge Ben for his excellent work in upgrading the
Mwadingusha hydropower plant; a private-public partnership with the DRC’s state-
owned power company La Société Nationale d'Electricité (SNEL) that is providing clean
hydro-generated electricity to the national grid for Kamoa-Kakula’s Phase 1 and Phase 2
production, as well as local communities,” Mr. Friedland said. “During his six-year
tenure at Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC, Ben has become a trusted leader. His knowledge
of our businesses and proven ability to partner across the industry make him ideal to
advance our efforts at Kamoa Copper.”
“We are thrilled to have Ben and Olivier join Kamoa Copper’s board of directors as we
pursue our goal of building an enduring, responsible, multinational mining company.
Both Ben and Olivier are passionate advocates of the DRC mining industry, and we
believe they will provide valuable perspectives as Kamoa Copper continues its journey
to becoming the world’s greenest, major copper producer,” Mr. Friedland continued.
“We're immensely proud of Kamoa Copper’s outstanding commitment to social and
environmental responsibility, as well as its significant investments in the development
of policies and programs for workplace safety, diversity, community development, and
education. We expect that this commitment will continue to strengthen under Ben’s
leadership,” Mr. Friedland added.
“Mr. Watum’s appointment as head of the Kipushi Project is evidence of Ivanhoe’s
intention of developing the mine in a timely fashion with the cooperation of our
government partners and our host communities,” said Mr. Friedland.
3
About Olivier Binyingo
Olivier Binyingo, Ivanhoe Mines’ Vice President Public
Affairs DRC, also was appointed to the Board of Directors
of Kamoa Copper. Mr. Binyingo joined Ivanhoe Mines in
November 2020 with a focus on enhancing relationships
with the DRC’s public sector stakeholders of both the
Kamoa-Kakula and Kipushi projects.
Olivier holds a Master of Laws from the Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and a Master in Security
and Defence from the Université Grenoble Alpes (France).
Before joining Ivanhoe Mines, Mr. Binyingo held senior positions in a number of
professional services firms, advising clients on their projects and operations on the
African continent. Legal directory Chambers Global has consistently recognized Olivier
as an expert on the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, he was ranked as one
of the most influential lawyers in Francophone Africa in 2019 by Jeune Afrique.
About Louis Watum
Louis Watum joined Ivanhoe Mines in December 2014 as
Managing Director of the company’s operations in the
DRC. In March 2015, he was appointed to the additional
role of General Manager, Kamoa Copper SA.
Prior to joining Ivanhoe Mines, between 2010 and 2014,
he successfully led the development and commissioning
of Randgold’s Kibali Project (Randgold’s interest in
Kibali subsequently sold to Barrick Gold), which followed
his work on the launch of Moto Gold Mines’ Moto Project
from 2006 to 2009. He was the Operations Manager at the
Yatela Gold Mine in Mali from 2001 to 2005.
Kamoa Copper Board of Directors
Mr. Binyingo joins Marna Cloete, Ivanhoe’s President and CFO, as Ivanhoe’s appointees
on the Kamoa Copper board. Zijin Mining, Ivanhoe’s equal partner, also has two
appointees on the board Abraham Li and Chen Yong and the Government of the DRC
has one appointee Bernadette Mpundu Mpia. Mark Farren, Kamoa Copper’s Chief
Executive Office, and Ben Munanga are the two appointees from Kamoa Copper’s
management team.
4
The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine 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 project. Initial
copper concentrate production from the Kakula Mine, the first of multiple mines
planned on the 400-square-kilometre Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, is scheduled to
begin this July.
About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal
joint-venture projects in Southern Africa: the development of major new, mechanized,
underground mines at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discoveries in the DRC and at the
Platreef palladium-platinum-nickel-copper-rhodium-gold discovery in South Africa; and
the extensive redevelopment and upgrading of the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-
germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC.
Kamoa-Kakula is expected to begin producing copper in July 2021 and, through phased
expansions, is positioned to become one of the world's largest copper producers.
Kamoa-Kakula and Kipushi will be powered by clean, renewable hydro-generated
electricity and will be among the world’s lowest greenhouse gas emitters per unit of
metal produced. Ivanhoe also is exploring for new copper discoveries on its wholly-
owned Western Foreland exploration licences in the DRC, near the Kamoa-Kakula
Project.
Information contacts
Investors: Bill Trenaman +1.604.331.9834 / Media: Matthew Keevil +1.604.558.1034