(Ecofin Agency) - Katanga Mining has announced this week the coming online of the first train of its new whole ore leach (WOL) processing facility at its KCC’s copper and cobalt mine, in DRC. The first copper cathode was produced on December 11, 2017.

In September 2015, the KCC’s copper and cobalt production was halted pending the construction of the WOL project. The firm now affirms that commissioning will continue throughout the next three months, with as goal for the first train to achieve full production capacity by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

“We are very pleased to have met our anticipated budget and timetable for commissioning the first train of our new plant,” said Johnny Blizzard, CEO of Katanga.

Katanga Mining plans to produce in the year 2018, 150,000 tons of copper and 11,000 tons of cobalt, and in 2019, 300,000 tons of copper and 34,000 of cobalt.

Louis-Nino Kansoun