Ivanhoe Mines announced that Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 2, 3.8-million-tonne-per-annum (Mtpa) concentrator plant is expected to be 93% complete by January 31, 2022, with hot commissioning of the concentrator on track to begin in April 2022, at the front end of the second quarter of 2022 previous guidance and several months ahead of the original schedule. Hot commissioning involves introducing first ore into the plant at a reduced feed rate to set equipment parameters and test performance. Feed rate is then steadily increased.

Kamoa Copper continues to make significant construction progress on the Phase 2 concentrator plant, and the plant is expected to be approximately 93% complete by the end of January. Hot commissioning now is expected to commence in April, and the first copper concentrate produced from the Phase 2 plant is expected approximately one week after ore is fed into the ball mills. The Phase 2 plant is identical to the Phase 1 3.8-Mtpa concentrator plant and a faster ramp-up profile is expected, with the added benefit of operational knowledge gained during the commissioning of Phase 1. For comparison, the Phase 1 concentrator reached monthly design throughput during September 2021, which was the fourth full month of operation.

First ore was introduced into Kamoa Copper's Phase 1 concentrator plant on May 20, 2021, and first concentrate was produced from the Phase 1 plant on May 25, 2021. The Phase 1 concentrator currently is running at a throughput that is in excess of its design capacity of 3.8-Mtpa by more than 15%, with 117% of design throughput achieved in December. Copper recoveries also are being achieved that are in excess of design recovery of 86%, depending on feed grade, with December's recoveries approximately 2% higher.

A dedicated project team has been appointed to de-bottleneck both the Phase 1 and Phase 2 concentrators (after commissioning), with targeted improvements aimed at increasing plant throughput from the design of 7.6 million tonnes per annum to 9.0 million tonnes per annum and producing up to 450,000 tonnes per annum of copper in concentrate from the first two plants once steady-state is achieved. The Phase 3 expansion, which is expected to be commissioned in fourth quarter of 2024, also is advancing, with work ongoing on a new box cut to access the Kamoa Mine. An updated pre-feasibility study, including the Phase 3 expansion, is expected in third quarter of 2022.