(Kitco News) - Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) announced today that Kipushi Corporation, a JV between Ivanhoe and DRC state-owned mining company Gécamines, recently hosted a breaking-ground ceremony to commemorate the start of construction of the processing plant at the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine.
The company said that the ground-breaking ceremony was attended by His Excellency Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others.
Ivanhoe added that the delegation was presented with the development plan for returning the Kipushi mine to production by late 2024 - one hundred years since it was first opened and 30 years since it was placed on care and maintenance.
According to a press-release, the ceremony follows the outstanding results of the Kipushi 2022 Feasibility Study, announced in February 2022, as well as the agreement signed between Ivanhoe Mines and Gécamines to bring the Kipushi mine back into production.
The Kipushi 2022 Feasibility Study evaluates the development of an 800,000-tonne-per-annum concentrator and underground mine, producing on average of 240,000 tonnes per annum of zinc contained in concentrate over a 14-year life of mine.
"The successful commencement of commercial production would establish Kipushi as the world's highest-grade major zinc mine, with an average head grade of 36.4% zinc over the first five years of production,"the company said. "Existing, rehabilitated surface and underground infrastructure allow for significantly lower capital costs than comparable development projects. The estimated pre-production capital cost, including contingency, is $382 million."
The company noted that, at a zinc price of $1.40 per pound, the project’s after-tax net present value (NPV) at an 8% real discount rate is $1.4 billion, with an after-tax real internal rate of return (IRR) of 54%. The current spot zinc price is $1.46 per pound.
Life-of-mine average C1 cash costs of $0.65 per pound of zinc are expected to rank Kipushi, once in production, in the second quartile of the cash cost curve for zinc producers globally, Ivanhoe pointed out.
Importantly, the company said that ordering of long-lead equipment is underway and early construction activities have commenced, adding that financing and offtake discussions, including a pre-payment facility of $250 million, are well advanced with several interested parties.
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