TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines’ Kamoa Copper subsidiary has awarded China Nerin Engineering the basic engineering contract for the planned, direct-to-blister flash smelter at the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex that will incorporate leading-edge technology, supplied by Metso Outotec, and have a nameplate capacity of 500 000 t/y of about 99% pure blister copper.

The contract was signed on November 18 by Kamoa Copper CEO Mark Farren and Nerin GM Wu Runhua, at a virtual ceremony held at the Kamoa-Kakula mine and Nanchang City.

The planned Kamoa-Kakula smelter is to be built adjacent to the Phase 1 and Phase 2 concentrator plants and is designed to use technology supplied by Metso Outotec and to meet the International Finance Corporation's (IFC’s) emissions standards.

The smelter has been sized to process the majority of the copper concentrate forecast to be produced by Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 concentrators.

With a nameplate capacity of 500 000 t/y of blister copper, it is projected to be one of the largest, single-line blister copper flash smelters in the world, and the largest in Africa.

In a statement on Thursday, Ivanhoe co-chairpersons Robert Friedland and Yufeng Miles Sun said the smelter is expected to be built concurrently with the project's Phase 3 mine and concentrator expansion, and the upgrading of turbine five at the Inga II hydropower complex.

The additional 162 MW of renewable electricity from the Inga II upgrade project will be needed to power the Phase 3 expansion and on-site smelter.

The next stages in the smelter project development will be the completion of basic engineering, which is expected to take about seven months, and the ordering of the long-lead equipment, followed by earthworks which are expected to start in the second quarter of 2022.

The awarding of the engineering, procurement and construction management contract is expected to occur shortly after the commencement of the earthworks.

The overall execution timeline will be dictated by the basic engineering, but is expected to be about three years, with an expected capital cost in the region of $700-million for the enlarged smelter, and it will be financed with cash flows from Kamoa-Kakula.