(Agence Ecofin) – According to the research firm BMI, Congolese copper production is expected to increase by 4.5% in 2024, exceeding 3 million tonnes. While the Kamoa-Kakula mine is expected to deliver up to 490,000 tonnes this year, power outages are forcing the owner to change plans.
Ivanhoe Mines is now targeting maximum production of 450,000 tonnes of copper concentrate in the DRC, compared to 490,000 tonnes in its initial forecasts. In a press release published on October 7, the Canadian company explains this change by the difficulties encountered in the electricity supply.
Since the first quarter of 2024, Ivanhoe has presented the instability of the electricity network in the south of the DRC as the main cause of the drop in its copper production. Despite the commissioning of a new concentrator last June, a success which brought Kamoa-Kakula’s annual production capacity to 600,000 tonnes of copper, the company estimates that the impact of the energy deficit on its initial objectives is irremediable.
Kamoa-Kakula being the largest Congolese copper mine, it should be noted that a reduction in its forecasts also risks affecting the total copper production expected by the DRC in 2024. The DRC could nevertheless retain its status as the world’s second largest producer. of copper, extracted in 2023 in Peru.
Now pursuing the DRC, the Latin American country plans to produce 2.8 million tonnes of copper this year, a production similar to that of the DRC in 2023. However, a report published at the end of May by BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, indicates that Congolese copper production is expected to grow by 4.5% in 2024, reaching around 3 million tonnes.
In the medium term, it should also be noted that measures have nevertheless already been taken to put an end to the instability observed in the electricity supply in the Congolese mining sector, particularly in Kamoa-Kakula, by 2025. Ivanhoe Mines signed an agreement in July with the National Electricity Company (Snel) to increase transmission capacity and improve network reliability, reports the Congolese media Bankablec .
For its part, Ivanhoe plans to install 201 MW of emergency power generation capacity in Kamoa-Kakula by the end of 2024. The production capacity already installed on the site at the end of September amounts to 135 MW. Negotiations are also being carried out to increase the availability of imported electricity to more than 100 MW by the end of the year, compared to 65 MW at the end of the third quarter.
As a reminder, Kamoa-Kakula delivered 303,328 tonnes of copper concentrate for the first three quarters of the year. The revised production range for 2024 is 425,000 to 450,000 tonnes, compared to 440,000 to 490,000 tonnes initially.
Emiliano Tossou
Also read:
07/10/2024 – The DRC seeks to strengthen transparency in the sale of its copper
