Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines saw its profits from last year soar due to record copper sales. A recently published statement from the mining firm revealed that it sold 323,733 tons of payable copper last year and generated a record annual revenue of $2.15 billion. Ivanhoe’s total profit for the year stood at a whopping $434 million and could primarily be attributed to the company’s Kamoa-Kakula joint venture, which brought in around $405 million.
In the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Kolwezi District of Lualaba, the Kamoa-Lakula Copper Complex produced more than 333,000 tons of copper and sold 92,208 tons of payable copper last year. The complex is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (which owns a 39.6% stake), Zjin Mining Group (with a 20% stake), the DRC government (with a 20% stake) and Crystal River Global (holding a 0.8% stake).
The Kamoa-Kakula mine generated a whopping $2.15 billion in revenue and contributed to most of Ivanhoe’s record 2022 profits. It is now undergoing the third phase of an expansion project that is expected to be finished by late 2024. This phase involves the construction of another 5-million-ton-per-annum accelerator at Kamoa and replacing a turbine at the complex’s hydroelectric power station. The new turbine will supply 178MW of power to the national grid, and it will also generate electricity for the third phase of expansion.
Furthermore, the expansion will include the completion of a 500,000-ton-per-year, direct-to-blister flash copper smelter by the end of 2023.
Once the phase 3 expansion is done, the complex will produce an average of 620,000 tons of copper per year over the next decade, at a production cost of $1.22 per pound. The expansion has also added an extra nine years to the life of the mine, allowing it to continue producing copper until 2060 at the least.
Phase 4 of expansion is slated to begin later in the decade and will include the addition of another 5 million tons per year concentrator at the Kamoa complex. This phase will increase the complex’s annual processing capacity to at least 19 million tons and maintain the output of the red metal at around 600,000 tons annually for another decade.
Ivanhoe and its partners also plan on bringing a new tailings storage facility online by 2040. The Canadian company plans on making the Kamoa-Kakula complex the fourth-largest producer of copper in the entire world by 2050.
Other copper exploration and extraction companies such as Arizona Metals Corp. (TSX: AMC) (OTCQX: AZMCF) are likely to make bolder plans for the future given how bullish the outlook is for this green energy metal.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Arizona Metals Corp. (TSX: AMC) (OTCQX: AZMCF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/AZMCF
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