[miningmx.com] – IVANPLATS, the Toronto-listed platinum and copper exploration firm, said it was in detailed discussions with potential strategic partners for its $2bn Kamoa copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The company was short on details, but it described its potential partners as “… major international mining industry participants”.
In a characteristically bullish assessment of the Kamoa project, IvanPlats president, Robert Friedland, said it would be a better use of capital to improve the mining rate of the project to 7.5 million tonnes a year (Mtpa) from 5Mtpa previously which would have yielded 143,000 tonnes of copper annually. Eventually, Kamoa could operate at a total capacity of 20Mtpa.
‘Kamoa is unique in its size and grade and Ivanplats believes that significant advantages could be realized from the participation of one or more strategic partners,” Friedland said in an announcement.
Although Kamoa was unlike new greenfields projects in its proximity to the copper mining hub of the DRC’s Kolwezo – which meant there was “plenty of existing infrastructure such as power lines, roads and railways … upgrading is required,” the company said.
In October, IvanPlats raised $307m in cash taking total equity issued in connection with the venture to $503m. Friedland said the listing represented a new chapter in the 18-year-old history of Ivanplats.
Commenting on infrastructure, IvanPlats has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the DRC’s state-owned electricity company, SNEL, to upgrade long-standing power installations to some 200MW of hydroelectric power supply of which IvanPlats’ Kamoa property would have preferential and discounted access.
In terms of the upgrade of the Mwadingusha and Koni power installations, IvanPlats would provide $141m of loan finance to SNEL which would then repay the loan by providing Kamoa with power at a 40% discount. A third power installation – Nzilo 1 – had also been agreed. The 200MW of combined power was “more than sufficient to launch Kamoa.
Development on the rehabilitation of the power stations would begin in August with supply of first rehabilitated power in 2017.
“As is the case with any major mine development project, a dependable supply of electricity is a key consideration in planning production rates at Kamoa,” said Friedland.
“Anything we can do to assist SNEL to improve the capacity and reliability of the supply of sustainable, cost-effective hydropower to the national grid in the Kamoa region could potentially allow us to increase the mining and smelting capacity at Kamoa to a level significantly higher than our planned initial mining rate of 7.5Mtpa,” said Friedland.
