Underground mining activities at Kakula Mine suspended; remediation work continues in western section of Kakula
May 26, 2025
Underground mining activities at Kakula Mine suspended;
remediation work continues in western section of Kakula
■
Phase 1 and 2 concentrators continue operating,
supplied by stockpiles
■
Operations at Kamoa Mine and Phase 3 concentrator continue
normal operations
■
Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin committed to restore Kakula Mine
back into production as soon as safely possible
KOLWEZI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO – Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN;
OTCQX: IVPAF) Executive Co-Chairman Robert Friedland and President and Chief
Executive Officer Marna Cloete today provide an operational update on the
Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
following the temporary suspension of operations at the Kakula underground
mine, as first announced by the company on May 20, 2025.
Senior management and a world-class team of geotechnical experts continue to
conduct a thorough investigation of the mine to understand the cause and effect
of the seismic activity.
Seismic activity at the Kakula underground mine has continued to occur
intermittently over the past few days. Given the recent seismic activity,
underground activities were suspended again on Saturday, May 25, 2025, with
employees safely brought above ground and mobile equipment removed from the
mine workings. The safety of employees and contractors remains paramount, and
zero lost time injuries have been reported. Preliminary indications are that seismic
activity at the Kakula underground could potentially continue for weeks, which
would inhibit access to the mine and prolong the temporary suspension of
operations at Kakula.
As a result of the impact on underground pumping and electrical infrastructure, to
date, there has been an increase in water inflow levels into the Kakula
underground mine. Kamoa Copper, with support from Ivanhoe and Zijin Mining, is
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currently preparing detailed dewatering plans, including the acquisition of
additional pumping equipment to increase pumping capacity and allow for
dewatering from surface. Ivanhoe would like to thank its Chinese partners Zijin
and CITIC Metal for their assistance in procuring additional equipment for the
dewatering efforts.
Ivanhoe Mines’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Marna Cloete
commented:
“I would like to extend my profound thanks to our dedicated workforce, who have
shown exceptional resilience and commitment while working under challenging
conditions during the recent seismic activity. The safety of our employees is our
highest priority, and it is testament to the professionalism and focus of everyone
at Kamoa Copper that we have recorded no injuries in a dynamic environment.
“While underground mining operations are temporarily suspended at Kakula, we
are focusing our efforts on maintaining pumping and water management
infrastructure, including accelerating procurement for dewatering equipment from
surface. We are working around the clock with the world’s foremost geotechnical
experts to establish the cause of the issues we faced and how we will resolve
them.
“We maintain significant optionality to maintain Kakula’s concentrator operations
from surface stockpiles, or potentially temporarily re-deploy Kakula employees
and equipment to Kamoa Mine, which continues uninterrupted.”
Ivanhoe Mines’ Founder and Executive Co-Chairman, Robert Friedland
commented:
“We are going to gain wisdom and experience from the events that have unfolded
in the past week. Ivanhoe, together with our partner Zijin, is operating in complex,
high-grade sedimentary copper systems on a scale not seen before globally.
What has transpired will give us valuable insight into managing geotechnical
conditions and maintaining critical pumping infrastructure, which will allow us to
future-proof and safely restart mining operations at Kakula … and such learnings
will be applied in earnest to our activities at Kamoa and in the Western Forelands.
“I remind readers that SpaceX – today responsible for approximately 90% of total
payload launched into space by humanity – did not attain this status without
numerous setbacks. Each setback brought their team new knowledge, making the
mission stronger... and so we approach our operations at Kamoa-Kakula with the
same mindset. Together we plan to restore operations to be safer and stronger
than ever.”
As underground areas are deemed safe for crews to return, the initial focus will be
to inspect, repair, and restart pump stations and associated piping, as well as
electrical substations and associated cabling. Remediation work continues in the
shallower western sections of the Kakula Mine, where current dewatering rates are
approximately 1,000 litres per second (L/s). Kamoa Copper’s engineering team is
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focused on restoring underground pumping capacity to over 3,000 L/s, which is
deemed sufficient to stabilize water levels. In parallel, the management team
intends to install at all of our mines high-capacity pumping systems that can
operate from surface as permanent infrastructure.
Surface infrastructure at Kakula, including the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators and
direct-to-blister smelter, remains completely unaffected. The Phase 1 and 2
concentrators are currently processing ore from surface stockpiles.
Mining activities at the Kamoa underground mine and processing at the adjacent
Phase 3 concentrator continue to operate normally.
Kamoa-Kakula’s 2025 production and cost guidance, along with the ramp-up
schedule for the direct-to-blister smelter, have been withdrawn pending review.
Ivanhoe will provide further updates as more information is available.
Ivanhoe and Zijin continue to work collaboratively under a strong partnership at
the joint-venture level and are committed to returning Kakula back to production
as soon as safely possible.
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 ramp-up of the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-
germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC; and the phased development of the tier-
one Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel-rhodium-gold-copper Mine in South Africa.
Ivanhoe Mines is exploring for copper in its highly prospective, 54-100% owned
exploration licences in the Western Forelands, covering an area over six times
larger than the adjacent Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, including the high-grade
discoveries in the Makoko District. Ivanhoe is also exploring for new sedimentary
copper discoveries in new horizons including Angola, Kazakhstan, and Zambia.
Follow Robert Friedland (@robert_ivanhoe) and Ivanhoe Mines (@IvanhoeMines_)
on X.
Information contact
Investors
Vancouver: Matthew Keevil +1.604.558.1034
London: Tommy Horton +44 7866 913 207
Media
Tanya Todd +1.604.331.9834
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Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this news release constitute “forward-looking statements” or “forward-
looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements and
information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause
the actual results, performance, or achievements of the company, its projects, or industry results
to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified
using words such as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “intend”, “expect”, “believe”, “plan”,
“anticipate”, “estimate”, “scheduled”, “forecast”, “predict” and other similar terminology, or state
that certain actions, events, or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or
be achieved. These statements reflect the company’s current expectations regarding future
events, performance, and results and speak only as of the date of this news release.
Such statements include, without limitation: (i) statements that the Phase 1 and Phase 2
concentrators will continue to be supplied by stockpiles; (ii) statements that seismic activity at the
Kakula underground if it continues for weeks, would inhibit access to the mine and prolong the
temporary suspension of operations as Kakula; (iii) statements that once underground access is
deemed safe, crews will focus on inspecting, repairing, and restarting pump stations and
associated piping, as well as electrical substations and associated cabling; and, (iv) statements
that Kamoa-Kakula’s 2025 production and cost guidance, along with the ramp-up schedule for
the direct-to-blister smelter, have been withdrawn pending review. In addition, that Ivanhoe will
provide further updates as more information is available.
Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should
not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate
indicators of whether such results will be achieved. Many factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information,
including, but not limited to; (1) uncertainty around the rate of water ingress into underground
workings, (2) the ability, and speed of which, additional equipment can be secured, (3) the
continuation of seismic activity, (4) the state of underground infrastructure, (5) uncertainty around
when future underground access can be secured, (6) future mine stability cannot be guaranteed
(7) future mining methods, may differ the impact on Kakula operations. The factors discussed
above and under the “Risk Factors” section in the company’s MD&A for the three months ended
March 31, 2025, and its current annual information form, and elsewhere in this news release, as
well as unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable
authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the company to perform as agreed; social or
labour unrest; unexpected geotechnical changes to mine operations, changes in commodity
prices; and the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results
that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations.
Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what
management of the company believes are reasonable assumptions, the company cannot assure
investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly
qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the
company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.
The company’s actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-
looking statements as a result of the factors outlined in the “Risk Factors” section in the
company’s MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2025, and its current annual information
form.