Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex produced 333,500 tonnes of copper in 2022

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Ivanhoe Mines’ (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF) Executive Co-Chair Robert Friedland and President Marna Cloete announced today, ahead of the 2023 Future Minerals Forum at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that the Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) produced 333,497 tonnes of copper in concentrate in 2022, achieving the upper-end of the original 2022 production guidance range of 290,000 to 340,000 tonnes. Kamoa-Kakula’s 2022 production achievement represents a year-over-year increase of 215%.

The 2023 annual production guidance for Kamoa-Kakula is estimated at between 390,000 to 430,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, following the anticipated completion of the debottlenecking program early in the second quarter of 2023.

Mr. Friedland commented: “Kamoa-Kakula has firmly established a track record of excellence during the development of Phase 1 and Phase 2 operations, which has led to an industry-leading growth profile in terms of copper production that will continue as we bring Phase 3 online. Kamoa-Kakula also stands out among its peers as one of the few mining operations worldwide to strongly deliver on its original 2022 production guidance, which is a further testament to the team of engineers and contractors who commissioned the Phase 2 concentrator several months ahead of schedule.”

“With the Phase 3 expansion well on track, including the integration of Africa’s largest single-line blister-copper flash smelter, Kamoa-Kakula is poised to become one of the world’s leading producers of vital copper metal for global markets … a producer that will have one of the lowest, if not the lowest, carbon footprints in the industry. Ivanhoe Mines looks forward to a long, prosperous partnership with the Democratic Republic of Congo government, the Congolese people, our joint-venture partners, and the international investors that have been integral in making these exceptional achievements possible.”

Watch the video showcasing Kamoa-Kakula’s 2022 operational highlights: https://vimeo.com/787287927/780de2f2b9

2023 Production Guidance for the Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex

Kamoa-Kakula’s 2023 production guidance is based on several assumptions and estimates as of December 31, 2022, including among other things, assumptions about the timing for the completion of the debottlenecking program. Guidance involves estimates of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially.

Kamoa-Kakula 2023 Guidance
Contained copper in concentrate (tonnes)	390,000 – 430,000

All figures are on a 100%-project basis and metal reported in concentrate is before refining losses or payability deductions associated with smelter terms.

Kamoa-Kakula produced 333,497 tonnes of copper in 2022, an increase of 215% compared with 2021

Kamoa-Kakula’s 2022 production guidance was raised from an initial range of 290,000 to 340,000 tonnes, following the successful ramp-up of Kamoa Copper’s Phase 2 concentrator plant, which was commissioned several months ahead of schedule and declared commercial production on April 7, 2022.

During the fourth quarter, Kamoa-Kakula produced 92,761 tonnes of copper. Kamoa-Kakula also reported 93,288 tonnes of copper floated, which includes the contained copper still in the circuit that was floated, but has not yet been filtered to produce a final concentrate. As of December 31, 2022, there was a balance of approximately 5,670 tonnes of copper in the circuit, which will be filtered into a final concentrate once the debottlenecking program is complete. For the full year of 2022, in line with the Kamoa-Kakula’s upper end of guidance, 338,087 tonnes of contained copper were floated.

The difference between floated and filtered copper arises from the current bottleneck in concentrate filter capacity, as the Phase 1 and 2 milling and flotation circuits continue to operate above design capacity. Floated copper is temporarily stored as a slurry in a fully-lined pond, which will be reclaimed into the concentrate thickener and filter press once the fourth Larox filter press is installed as part of the debottlenecking program.

Kamoa Copper’s previously announced debottlenecking program is over 90% complete and is progressing ahead of schedule. All the major equipment for the program, including the fourth Larox filter press from Metso Outotec of Espoo, Finland, has been delivered to the site. The final step of installation will take place over the next few months, with cold commissioning targeted to take place in April 2023.

The new concentrate thickener nears completion. Once complete, the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators are expected to reach a combined processing capacity of 9.2 million tonnes per annum.

In the foreground, the expansion of the concentrate storage and dispatch warehouse is nearing completion. The fourth Larox filter has been delivered to site and will soon be installed at the rear of the facility.

As part of the debottlenecking program, the new scavenger-cleaner flotation cell (circled in red) on the Phase 1 concentrator is undergoing final installation.

The debottlenecking program will increase the combined processing capacity of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 concentrator plants to approximately 9.2 million tonnes per annum and increase the rate of copper production to approximately 450,000 tonnes per annum.

During 2022, the Kamoa-Kakula Mining Complex milled approximately 7.1 million tonnes of ore at an average feed grade of 5.5% copper and produced 333,497 tonnes of copper in concentrate. A total of 2.0 million ore tonnes were milled during the fourth quarter at an average feed grade of 5.4% copper.

Tonnes of ore milled in the fourth quarter were slightly lower by approximately 3.5%, on a quarter-on-quarter basis due to intermittent electrical power supply disruptions on the DRC grid. Kamoa Copper is working with the DRC state-owned power utility, SNEL, to minimize any future disruptions to operations.

On December 27, 2022, a total of 27,424 dry tonnes of ore were milled through the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators  ̶  a daily record for both facilities. This is equivalent to an milling rate of 9.1 million tonnes per annum (after accounting for availability).

A total of 120,000 tonnes were drawn from the run-of-mine stockpiles in the fourth quarter. While the ongoing expansion of underground infrastructure at the Kakula Mine takes place, ore continues to be drawn periodically from the stockpile to maximize copper production, as the concentrators are currently operating over design capacity.

The recently completed east truck tip and bin at the Kakula underground mine will increase mining rates to feed the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators.

Kamoa-Kakula’s high- and medium-grade ore surface stockpiles totaled approximately 4.08 million tonnes at an estimated, blended average grade of 4.05% copper. Contained copper in the stockpiles at the end of December totaled more than 165,000 tonnes (the current copper price is approximately $8,600 per tonne).

Copper flotation recoveries during 2022 from the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators averaged 86%.

The Kamoa Copper process engineering team, together with several internationally-recognized external metallurgy specialists, continue to investigate the feasibility of new technologies to economically recover additional copper from the tailings stream of the Phase 1 and 2 concentrators, to potentially increase overall recoveries above Kamoa-Kakula’s 86% design target.

The Kamoa-Kakula 2023 Integrated Development Plan expected to be released later this month, in addition to cash cost and capital expenditure guidance

An updated 2023 Integrated Development Plan (Kamoa-Kakula 2023 IDP) for the life-of-mine of the Kamoa Kakula Mining Complex, including both the Phase 3 and Phase 4 expansions, as well as the smelter, is expected to be released during the week of January 30, 2023.

Following the publication of the Kamoa-Kakula 2023 IDP, Ivanhoe Mines also will provide a guidance range for C1 cash costs (C1) per pound of payable copper for 2023, as well as updated capital cost guidance for 2023 and 2024 across the Kamoa-Kakula, Platreef and Kipushi projects.

Safety briefing held on the construction site of the Phase 3 concentrator. To date, the construction sites for the Phase 3 concentrator and smelter, as well as the housing and community projects have achieved zero recordable injuries and an impressive 7,486,670 hours free of lost time injury (LTI).

Ivanhoe Mines to issue 2022 financial results and host conference call for investors on February 27

Ivanhoe Mines will report its Q4 and full-year 2022 financial results, and a detailed update on its operations, before the market opens on Monday, February 27, 2023.

The company plans to hold an investor conference call to discuss the full-year 2022 financial results on the same day. Details of the call with shared closer to the date.

An audio webcast recording of the conference call, together with supporting presentation slides, will be available on Ivanhoe Mines’ website at www.ivanhoemines.com.

After issuance, the Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis will be available at www.ivanhoemines.com and www.sedar.com.