COPPER: Ivanhoe likes recovery, concentrate grades from Kakula

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Ivanhoe Mines of Vancouver says the second stage of metallurgical drill core testing from the Kakula discovery at the Kamoa-Kakula project near Kolwezi has returned excellent copper recoveries and concentrate grades. The bench scale metallurgical flotation test work was carried out at XPS Consulting and Testwork Services in Falconbridge, Ont. Copper recoveries were 87.8%, and a concentrate with grade of 56% Cu was produced using the flowsheet developed during the Kamoa pre-feasibility study. The material tested was a composite of recent, chalcocite-rich Kakula drill core, assaying 8.1% Cu. The XPS results corroborate the results from testing of a Kakula drill core composite sample that was conducted by joint venture partner Zijin Mining Group at its laboratory in China in July 2016. Ivanhoe has repeatedly said that Kamoa-Kakula ranks among the world’s 10 largest copper deposits and has significant expansion potential. Using a 1% Cu cut-off, the deposit is estimated to contain 944 million indicated tonnes at a grade of 2.83% Cu or 58.9 billion lb of copper. The inferred resource is 286 million tonnes at 2.31% Cu containing 14.6 billion lb of copper. A preliminary economic assessment is underway. Please see www.IvanhoeMines.com.