△The Kamoa-Kakula copper mine

On May 26, Zijin Mining announced that the 3.8 million tons ore processing system of the first phase of Kamoa-Kakura Copper Mine located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) started commissioning recently, and the copper concentrate production was officially started on May 25, Beijing time, achieving the completion and operation of the project ahead of schedule.

President Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said the start of copper concentrate production from the Kamoa-Kakula mine shows that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is open for business and investment and we congratulate this world class mineral on this important milestone.

The Kamoa-Kakura copper mine is the world's most significant copper discovery of the new century and is expected to be the world's second largest copper mine with a peak annual output of more than 800,000 tonnes when fully developed.

Zijin currently holds 13.69 per cent of Ivanhoe Mines and a 39.6 per cent stake in the Kamoa-Kakula copper project with Ivanhoe Mines, for a combined interest of about 45 per cent in the Kamoa-Kakula copper project.

1

Rewrite the list of world class mines

Thanks to Kakura, the list of the world's largest copper deposits has changed forever.

The Kamoa-Kakura mine has more than 43.69 million tons of resources and will be the world's highest grade large copper mine when it comes into operation.

In April, 357,000 tons of ore with an average copper grade of 5.70 percent was produced from the Kakura section, of which 121,000 tons came from the high-grade mining area at a grade of 8.40 percent.

At present, the surface of the project has accumulated about 3 million tons of medium and high grade ore, with an average copper grade of about 4.74% and a copper metal quantity of more than 140,000 tons.

△The Kamoa-Kakula beneficiation system produces copper fine powder

On May 20, the 3.8 million tons/year concentrator used the first batch of ore to carry out the belt test of ball mill and other dressing equipment;

As of May 25, ore with a copper grade of about 5%-6% was shipped directly from the Kakula shaft to the concentrator for processing.

According to the data obtained from the previous comprehensive and detailed beneficiation tests, the first series concentrator produced high-quality copper concentrate with very low arsenic content, with a grade of about 57%, and is expected to produce 8-95,000 tons of copper concentrate containing metal in 2021.

The first phase of Kamoa-Kakura copper mine is designed to handle 7.6 million tons of ore per year, and will be constructed in two series of 3.8 million tons per year each. The first series is expected to produce about 200,000 tons of copper per year after completion.

The second series of construction is currently progressing rapidly and is expected to be completed and commissioned in the third quarter of 2022.

The average grade of copper ore in the two series is 5.2%, and the annual output of copper is about 400,000 tons.

Zijin Mining is working with partners to further expand production, and the overall processing capacity in the second phase will be increased from 7.6 million tons/year to 11.4 million tons/year;

In the later stage of production expansion, the final ore volume will reach 19 million tons/year, and the peak annual copper output will reach 800,000 tons.

Once the project is expanded to 19 million tonnes per year, Kamoa-Kakula will be the world's second-largest copper mine, according to publicly available information from independent research institutes.

2

Chinese power is changing the course of the project

On May 26, 2015, Zijin Mining formed a partnership with Ivanhoe to acquire a 49.5% stake in Ivanhoe's Kamoa Holding to jointly develop the Kamoa-Kakura copper mine.

Before the acquisition of the project, Chen Jinghe, a former geological expert, believed that the mineralization conditions in the southern section were good and there was a possibility to find large deposits during the site investigation. Therefore, after he intervened in the Kamoa project, Chen Jinghe urged to carry out the ore-prospecting work in the Kakula section.

Through continuous exploration, Kamoa-Kakura copper resources nearly doubled from 24 million tons to 43.69 million tons.

The discovery of the Kakura section has truly elevated the project to world-class status, making Kamoa-Kakura the fourth largest copper deposit in the world and the largest high-grade, undeveloped copper deposit in the world.

The discovery also changed Ivanhoe's overall plan for the project, which began with the Kakura section, the highest grade copper mine.

△Some of the 7,000 or so company and contractor employees at the Kakura plant

The construction of Phase I of Kakura Copper Mine has brought together professionals from more than a dozen countries in various fields, nearly 7,000 employees across cultural and standard differences, closely focused on the common goal of "fast progress of project construction", and continue to efficiently and efficiently push forward the project construction.

In the process of project construction, Chinese plan, Chinese team and Chinese equipment played an important role.

In the critical period of the first phase of the project construction, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, personnel access and material supply lagged behind, and the project process encountered huge challenges.

Thanks to the advantages of Sino-foreign cooperation, Kakura Copper Mine promptly adopted China's experience in the fight against COVID-19. The construction progress of the mine has not been interrupted, and the development progress has reached new heights for many times.

3

To become the greenest mine in the world

In the planning of Zijin Mining and Ivanhoe, Kakula Copper Mine is a mine with high benefits, the greenest mine in the world, and a mine with beautiful harmony and co-prosperity.

Compared to other top copper mines, the Kamoa-Kakula project has a large, close to surface and relatively flat ore deposit and an extremely high copper grade, making it suitable for large-scale and efficient mechanized underground mining operations.

In terms of tailings management, Kakura uses 60 per cent of its tailings to backfill underground, minimising its environmental impact.

△The Mwadingusha hydropower project in Congo will provide 72 megawatts of long-term renewable electricity to Kamoa-Kakula

Meanwhile, the Kakura mine is fully powered by clean, renewable hydropower.

In industry-comparable mines, producing a ton of copper emits between 0.19 and 2.8 tons of carbon dioxide, while producing a ton of copper at Kakura emits only about 0.16 tons of carbon dioxide.

Kakura will have one of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per unit of copper in the world, according to an independent review by the Hearst Group.

Driving the development of surrounding communities is the inherent requirement for sustainable development of mines.

The Kakura Copper Mine has actively carried out the "Sustainable Livelihood Program", which has provided many jobs for the people in and around the mine and helped the community to develop textile, farming, farming, fishing and other distinctive industries.

Through the entrepreneurial model, all the products and services of local people can be sold back to the mine.

△Lettuce grown and harvested by Kamoa-Kakura vegetable farmers

Chen Jinghe, chairman of Zijin Mining Group, said that the production of Kamoa-Kakula copper mine will have an important impact on the increase of copper in Zijin Mining, which has a positive significance for the realization of the company's strategic goals in the next five years (2+3) and 2030.

In the process of internationalization for many years, the company takes "mining development for the benefit of society" as the purpose, and gradually forms the core value of common development, which also creates good external conditions for the development of the enterprise.

Chen jinghe said at the same time, in addition to the card Mr Khoja copper mine, zijin mining's Serbia Peggy copper and gold mine, the Chinese dragon copper mine, Tibet was two world-class copper mine is also speed up the construction, to "carbon peak" "carbon neutral" energy structure transformation and upgrading of bring new incremental supply shortage of copper resources, constantly bring more surprise to society and investors.

Shanghang County Rong Media Center produced

Source: Zijin Mining