African Mining February 2022 | Page 15

PROJECTS AND EXPLORATION •

economic benefits from Kamoa-Kakula by maximising in-country beneficiation . He commented , “ Achieving the transformative potential of Kamoa-Kakula ' s unrivaled copper resources requires creative thinking that supports the DRC ' s priorities of economic growth and diversification through value-addition , processing and beneficiation .

A 3D illustration of the planned direct-to-blister flash smelter at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine that will have a nameplate capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum of blister copper .

" Nerin is a highly-respected engineering firm with the people and in-country expertise to deliver a first-rate , on-site smelter that will be among the largest of its kind in the world . They successfully built the local Lualaba Copper Smelter , to which we are sending about a third of our current concentrate output .

" After a great deal of due diligence , the partners at Kamoa Copper collectively agree that the state-of-the-art , environmentally-friendly technology offered by the Metso Outotec direct-to-blister smelter best suits the unique low-iron , low-sulphur and ultra-high-grade concentrate produced at Kamoa-Kakula and aligns seamlessly with our goal of producing the world ' s ' greenest copper '.

A Metso Outotec direct-to-blister flash smelter furnace in operation .

one half or more , and the associated logistics costs , export taxes and concentrate treatment charges . The smelter will also produce sulphuric acid as a by-product , creating a new revenue stream for the operation .

There is a strong demand and market for sulphuric acid in the DRC to recover copper from oxide ores . Copper mines in the DRC currently import significant volumes of sulphur used in sulphurburning acid plants to produce sulphuric acid for the treatment of oxide copper ores . The DRC also imports sulphuric acid , primarily from Zambia .

As at 2021 Q4 , Kamoa-Kakula was producing an extremely highgrade , clean copper concentrate containing approximately 55 % copper and extremely low levels of arsenic by world standards - approximately 0.01 %. Approximately 35 % of Kamoa-Kakula ' s Phase 1 concentrate is sent to the local Lualaba smelter for processing into blister copper ingots - containing approximately 99 % copper – while the remainder is transported via trucks and ships to international smelters for treatment .

Mark Farren , CEO of Kamoa Copper , said that the signing of the smelter basic engineering contract with Nerin highlighted the mine ’ s commitment to the people of the DRC to derive more

" The Kamoa-Kakula smelter will be powered by clean , renewable hydropower and will incorporate leading-edge sulphur capture . Shipping 99 % -pure blister copper ingots produced from an on-site smelter , instead of shipping copper concentrate , will result in a significant reduction in Kamoa-Kakula ' s concentrate transportation costs and Scope 3 emissions ."

The Outotec technology produces high-quality blister copper in a single flash furnace without the need for separate converting stages or ladle transportation . The process and equipment have undergone continuous development over the last 70 years , which has led to one of the safest , most environmentally friendly , and most reliable smelting processes for treating high-grade copper concentrates .

Kakula is projected to be the world ' s highest-grade major copper mine , with an initial mining rate of 3.8 million tonnes per annum ( Mtpa ) at an estimated , average feed grade of more than 6.0 % copper over the first five years of operations , and 5.9 % copper over the initial 10 years of operations . Phase 1 is expected to produce approximately 200,000 tonnes of copper per year , while the Phase 2 expansion is forecast to increase production to approximately 400,000 tonnes of copper annually . Kamoa Copper is on track to complete the Phase 2 expansion in Q2 2022 .

Based on independent benchmarking , the project ' s phased expansion scenario to 19 Mtpa would position Kamoa-Kakula as the world ' s second-largest copper mining complex , with peak annual copper production of more than 800,000 tonnes .