China Moly’s Congo mine expansion project starts trial production
The expansion project of China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) mine in Democratic Republic of Congo had started trial production on July 16, the company said in a statement.
The expansion project of the TFM mine is expected to produce 88 500 t of copper cathode and 7 280 t of cobalt hydroxide, according to the statement seen by Reuters on Monday.
It also has a designed capacity to process 3.3-million tonnes of ore per year, said the Chinese miner.
The giant Tenke Fungurume mine, one of the world’s largest copper-cobalt deposits, had seen its copper and cobalt output at 182 597 t and 15 436 t, respectively, in 2020.
China Moly aims to boost its copper production at the mine to 187 300 t to 228 900 t and cobalt output at 16 500 t to 20 100 t this year, it said.
“The expansion can increase daily ore processing capacity by 10 000 t … to 25 000 t, copper and cobalt annual production will be lifted significantly,” said the statement.
With the project being put into trial production, the company said it could also “take the advantage of rising metals prices” and further enhance its profitability.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had jumped more than 20% so far in 2021 and cobalt prices had surged over 60%.
