Ivanhoe Mines, which is advancing three principal operations in Southern Africa – the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex and the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine in the DRC, as well as the tier-one Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel-rhodium-gold-copper project in South Africa, framed the smelter’s ignition as a transformative moment for its operations and the region.
Kamoa-Kakula’s Managing Director, Annebel Oosthuizen, told attendees that the heat-up represented a collective achievement, saying: “This day belongs to every Kamoa Copper employee. You built this… We fired it up… This is our collective success. The fire we lit today is the light that will change the future, not just for Kamoa Copper, but for our community, our country, and the African continent.”
Ivanhoe Mines’ Founder and Executive Co-Chairman Robert Friedland described the ceremony as both symbolic and historic. “The ceremony today is not just a ritual; it is the passing of a torch representing transformative change at Kamoa-Kakula… From a site where we first discovered high-grade copper in 2008, we now harness a fire blessed by tradition to power a facility that will set a new global standard for copper smelting,” he said.
He added that the smelter marks “a significant milestone for Kamoa-Kakula, the Lualaba Province and the broader Congolese mining industry… a major step forward in the production of clean, sustainable copper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
From record-grade deposits to industrial powerhouse
The completion of the Phase 3 concentrator in 2024 lifted potential annual output to around 600,000 tonnes of copper.
That scale places Kamoa-Kakula firmly among Africa’s largest and most influential copper producers.
The mine delivered 437,061 tonnes of copper in 2024, with 2025 production guidance set at 370,000–420,000 tonnes as optimization continues.
How Kamoa-Kakula compares in Africa’s copper landscape
Across Africa’s copper sector, Kamoa-Kakula now stands out for combining high ore grades, rapid development timelines, and full on-site processing capacity. While established producers like Zambia operate large copper mines, few integrate smelters of comparable scale or environmental efficiency.
With its high-grade deposits and low-carbon credentials, Kamoa-Kakula is emerging as a benchmark for next-generation copper mining on the continent.
For Ivanhoe Mines, the ignition of the new smelter signals a decisive shift: from being one of Africa’s largest concentrate producers to becoming a major supplier of processed copper to global markets.
The company says the development will reshape both its commercial performance and the DRC’s standing in the global copper value chain.
