Name of the Project
Kipushi zinc/copper/silver/germanium mine redevelopment project.

Location
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Client
The project is operated by Kipushi Corporation, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (68%) and State-owned mining company Gécamines (32%).

Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of the project focuses on the mining of Kipushi’s Big Zinc zone, which has an estimated 10.2-million tonnes of measured and indicated mineral resources grading 34.9% zinc.

Life-of-mine average planned zinc concentrate production is estimated at 530 000 dry tonnes a year, with a concentrate grade of 53% zinc. This is expected to rank Kipushi, once in production, among the world’s major zinc mines.

The planned mining method is a combination of sublevel open stoping (SLOS), pillar retreat and cut-and-fill methods at a steady-state mining rate of 1.1-million tonnes.

The PEA envisages the primary mining method for the Big Zinc zone being SLOS with cemented rock backfill. The crown pillars are expected to be mined once adjacent stopes are backfilled using a pillar retreat mining method. The Big Zinc zone is expected to be accessed using the existing decline and without significant new development. The main levels are planned to be at 60 m vertical intervals, with sublevels at 30 m intervals.

The cut-and-fill mining method has been identified to extract the copper zone outside the Big Zinc zone – mining occurs in horizontal slices, with the blasted copper material removed from the stopes, then crushed underground and sold at the mine gate.

The planned process plant in the PEA is a dense-media separation plant, which is expected to include crushing, screening, heavy-liquid separation and spirals to produce a high-grade zinc concentrate.

The project is expected to leverage existing surface and underground infrastructure to significantly lower the redevelopment capital, compared with a greenfield development project, as well as the time required to reinstate production.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% real discount rate, of $759-million and an internal rate of return of 36.4%, with a pretax project payback period of 2.1 years.

Value
Preproduction capital, including contingency, is estimated at $409-million.

Duration
None stated.

Latest Developments
Ivanhoe Mines is preparing to rebuild the 34 km of rail track that connects the Kipushi mine with the DRC’s national railway at Munama, south of Lubumbashi.

Under terms of a memorandum of understanding with DRC State-owned railway company Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo (SNCC), Ivanhoe will start construction of the line in late 2018.

Ivanhoe will appoint consultants to undertake a front-end engineering design study to assess the scope and cost of rebuilding the spur line from the historic Kipushi mine to the main Lubumbashi–Sakania railway at Munama.

The revival of the inactive Kipushi–Munama spur line, which has been out of commission since 2011, is the most economical and reliable solution for the transportation of Kipushi’s projected 530 000 t/y of zinc concentrate production, Ivanhoe executive chairperson Robert Friedland has said.

“A daily train from Kipushi will replace the equivalent of 50 road trucks, resulting in significant safety and environmental benefits to the DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa; reduced road and border congestion; and decreased air pollution,” he notes.

The World Bank is overseeing and financing the rehabilitation and upgrade of large sections of the main DRC national railway between Lubumbashi and the Zambia border crossing at Sakania.
 
Key Contracts and Suppliers
OreWin, and the MSA Group (PEA).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Ivanhoe Mines, Jeremy Michaels, tel +27 11 088 4300 or email jeremy.michaels@ivanplats.com.