About Us

Kamoa Copper— a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%) and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (20%) — is a very large, near-surface, flat-lying, stratiform copper deposit with adjacent prospective exploration areas within the Central African Copperbelt, approximately 25 kilometres west of the town of Kolwezi and about 270 kilometres west of the provincial capital of Lubumbashi.

Copper concentrate production commenced in May 2021, with commercialization starting on July 1, 2021. Kamoa’s Phase 3 concentrator expansion completed ahead of schedule in May 2024, with first concentrate reported on June 10, 2024. Phase 3 will boost annualised production to approximately 600,000 tonnes copper. Phased expansion is projected to position Kamoa Copper as the third-largest copper mining complex globally, and the largest copper mine on the African continent.

The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex has one of the most favourable environmental footprints of any tier-one copper mine globally. According to Skarn Associates of London, England, Kamoa-Kakula’s operations produce among the lowest carbon emissions per tonne of copper in the world, and the lowest of any major copper mine. On a Scope 1 and 2 basis (reported from ore to mine gate), Kamoa-Kakula’s greenhouse gas emissions intensity in 2022 was 0.16 equivalent tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of contained copper produced (CO2-e / t Cu).

This is partially due to the high-grade orebodies of Kamoa and Kakula, which are up to ten times higher in grade than the average global copper head grade. It is also a function of the DRC grid being among the world’s cleanest, with 99.5% of grid power generated from hydroelectricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In addition, the high-grade, underground orebodies of Kamoa and Kakula enable a relatively small surface footprint of across the complex, with approximately 55% of the operation’s tailings pumped back into the underground mine as backfill.

Since the initial discovery of the high-grade copper deposit at Kamoa Copper in 2008, and the subsequent finding of the ultra-high-grade deposit at Kakula in 2016, Kamoa Copper has undergone significant expansion. Our operations now include Kansoko mine, Kakula South and West mines, Kamoa Copper 1 mine, phase one, phase two and newly completed phase three concentrators as well as our state-of-the-art smelter under development. Kamoa Copper has also signed an agreement to make use of the soon-to-be-upgraded Lobito railway corridor for transporting our product to further reduce our carbon footprint.