Kipushi Mines

Company Description

The Kipushi Project, is situated in the southeast of the company's Kamoa discovery, adjacent to the town of Kipushi and approximately 30 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital of Lubumbashi. Ivanhoe Mines acquired its 68% interest in the Kipushi Project in November 2011; the balance of 32% is held by the DR Congo's state-owned mining company, Gacamines. The Kipushi copper mine is based on the high-grade, underground zinc-copper mine in the Central African Copper belt, which produced approximately 60 million tonnes of ore grading 11% zinc and 7% copper between 1924 and 1993. It also produced 12, 673 tonnes of lead and approximately 278 tonnes of germanium between 1956 and 1978. The mine has been managed on a care and maintenance basis since 1993. Historical estimates of the Big Zinc's resources between the mine's 1, 295- and 1, 500- metre levels total 4.7 million tonnes averaging 39% zinc and 0.76% copper. Several exploration holes confirmed the continuation of the Big Zinc Deposit below the 1, 640-metre level. Kipushi's historical resource estimates above the 1, 500 - metre level total approximately 17 million tonnes averaging 16.7% zinc and 2.3% copper, including the Big Zinc historical resources.