(Ecofin Agency) - Kamoa-Kakula, the largest copper mine in the DRC and Africa, is expected to produce a maximum of 490,000 tonnes of concentrate in 2024. Its owners recently commissioned a new copper concentrator, aiming for an annual output of over 600,000 tonnes by 2025.

Commissioned last month, the Kamoa-Kakula project’s third copper concentrator is online. Ivanhoe Mines, which owns the project, announced on June 11.  According to the Canadian firm, the concentrator should enter commercial production in Q3 2024.

With this new processing unit, Kamoa-Kakula should become the third-largest copper mine in the world by 2025, behind the Escondida (Chile) and Grasberg (Indonesia) mines. The Congolese complex now has a production capacity of over 600,000 tonnes of copper per year, helping keep the DRC among the leaders in the sector.

Ultimately, Ivanhoe and its JV partners want to make Kamoa-Kakula the world’s second-largest copper mine, with a total production of over 800,000 tonnes. A fourth concentrator with an annual processing capacity of at least 5 million tonnes of ore is already under consideration by the mine's engineers.

Ivanhoe Mines and China's Zijin Mining each hold a 39.6% interest in Kamoa-Kakula, while the Congolese government holds a 20% stake. The complex is expected to produce between 440,000 and 490,000 tonnes of copper concentrate by 2024.

From 2021 to 2023, the DRC moved from being the fourth biggest copper producer to the second.

Emiliano Tossou