Kamoa Copper has signed offtake agreement with CITIC Metal Ltd. and Gold Mountains Int’l Mining Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Zijin Mining, for 50% each. During Phase 1, Kamoa’s expects to produce 200,000 mt/y of copper, which includes concentrate (60%) and blister copper (40%) from Lualaba Copper Smelter (LSC).
During May, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) announced a concentrate ban shortly after Komoa commissioned its operations. Kamoa with the help of its parent, Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining, struck a deal with LSC to smelt copper to partially comply with the DRC mandate.
“We are very pleased to have reached agreements with our partners CITIC Metal and Zijin at internationally competitive terms,” Chairman of Kamoa Copper Ben Munanga said. “The agreements reflect the great partnership we have with CITIC Metal and Zijin, and the advance payment facilities significantly reduce the mine’s working capital requirements as phase 1 production ramps up.”
Kamoa Copper started copper production on May 25, and on June 1 delivered its first concentrate to LSC nearby, outside Kolwezi. Kamoa Copper signed a 10-year agreement with the Lualaba Copper Smelter (LCS) on May 31 for the processing of approximately 40% of Kamoa’s copper concentrate production. This agreement is followed by the conclusion of a strategic partnership with Ivanhoe Mines and the China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group (CNMC) and is in keeping with Kamoa’s commitment to in-country beneficiation.
The smelter, which began operations in early 2020, will process up to 150,000 wet mt of Kamoa’s copper concentrate at a market-based fee. LCS will locally produce blister copper containing approximately 99% copper that will be collected by Kamoa from LCS’s storage facility. LCS has been developed in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the first modern, big, pyro-metallurgical copper smelting plant and located about 40 kilometers from Kamoa, along a recently constructed road.
Rochelle de Villiers, Kamoa Copper’s CFO, who is leading the concentrate off-take and marketing negotiations, said, “Kamoa Copper is pleased to have concluded an agreement with LCS, which will make up about 40% of the total volumes of concentrate produced by phase 1, making the most of available in-country smelter capacity. We look forward to a long-term collaboration with our new partner.”
