[ferro-alloys.com]With large-scale deposits hard to find (and even harder to bring into production on time and within budget) much has been made of the sheer size of Kamoa-Kakula, Ivanhoe Mines’ project on the central Africa copper belt straddling the DRC and Zambia.

A new note by BMO Capital Markets compares Kamoa-Kakula to the world’s 10 largest copper mines based on 2019 production numbers to offer a perspective on the potential of legendary mining financier Robert Friedland’s latest project. 

Phase one of three, Kakula, could be up and running in less than a year and according to the definitive feasibility study, (DFS) will average 284,000 tonnes of copper per year for the first 10 years, processing 6.2% Cu ore at a pedestrian pace of only 6 million tonnes per annum.

The expanded Kamoa-Kakula will have a run rate of just over half a million tonnes copper in the first decade at 5.1% Cu grade and at peak production returns 805,000 tonnes of copper per year, processing 19 million tonnes of ore per year at an eye-watering 7% Cu grade.    

BMO points out that the Kamoa-Kakula preliminary economic assessment (PEA) only processes 5–35% of annual tonnage and at a grade 4-5% higher than the other large producers:

“The unique scale and grade of the Kamoa-Kakula complex will, in our opinion, drive premium valuations for Ivanhoe as the company enters production.”

BMO admits it’s not a fair comparison as none of the other operations are at peak grade or production but “still offers an interesting scale comparison showing the upside potential of the Kamoa-Kakula complex.”

BMO has an outperform rating on Ivanhoe Mines (TSE:IVN) and upped its price target to $10.00 following the DFS. Ivanhoe is also advancing the Platreef PGM-polymetallic development project in South Africa and the Kipushi zinc-copper mine in the DRC.

Ivanhoe was last trading at $5.96 a share in Toronto with a market value of C$7.2 billion, up 42% year to date.  Copper was last trading at $3.06 a pound or $6,750 per tonne, up more than 50% from its March lows and near a more than two-year high. 

(Mining.com)

• [Editor:王可]