Ivanhoe Mines has announced progress on the Kakula Mine restart plans following a temporary suspension of underground operations.
The company’s engineering teams are working on updating plans to resume mining on both the western and eastern sides of the mine, with the western side expected to restart later this month, subject to dewatering progress.
Ivanhoe Mines had declared a halt in mining activities at the Kakula underground mine, part of the Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to recent seismic events.
Following seismic events in the Kakula mine’s eastern area, the Kamoa Copper management team decided to cease underground work on 18 May.
The Kamoa-Kakula mining project is managed by Kamoa Copper, a collaboration between Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining Group, which both own 39.6% each, Crystal River Global with 0.8%, and the government of the DRC with a 20% share.
Kamoa Copper, the operator of the mine, has initiated a two-stage dewatering plan.
The first stage, completed today, involved installing temporary pumps to manage water inflows, increasing the capacity to approximately 4,400 litres per second.
The second stage, already under way, includes ordering four high-capacity pumps and establishing permanent infrastructure to fully dewater the mine. Delivery of these pumps is expected within 90 days.
The phase one and two concentrators are currently operating at half capacity, processing ore from surface stockpiles.
Once operations on the western side of Kakula resume, ore from this area will be fed into the concentrators.
Despite the temporary suspension, the mine has achieved more than 18 months of underground development ahead of schedule, providing flexibility for safe re-entry into multiple production areas.
Operations at the Kamoa underground mine and the phase three concentrator remain unaffected and continue as planned.
Ivanhoe Mines and Kamoa Copper, along with geotechnical experts, are concluding a comprehensive geotechnical assessment of the mine.
The findings and detailed restart plans for both sides of the Kakula Mine are expected to be announced next week.
