Expansion To See DRC Copper Complex Become Third Largest In The World
By land area, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the second-largest country in Africa, and the 11th largest in the world. Across this landmass is a copperbelt of around 70 kilometres wide and 250 kilometres long.
There are 72 economic deposits of copper/cobalt and four large mining centres. Taken together, the DRC and Zambia copper belts are the second largest global reserve of copper, about one-third the size of the Chilean reserve.
Producing around 63% of the world’s cobalt, the second biggest copper producer after Chile, the DRC copper belt includes some of the highest-grade copper deposits in the world.
Starting production in 2021, the Kamoa Kukula Copper Complex (Kamoa Copper) based in the DRC, produced 393,551 tonnes of copper concentrate in 2023.
Kamoa Copper’s 2023 production achievement represents a year-over-year increase of 18%. The 2024 annual production guidance for Kamoa-Kakula is estimated at between 440,000 to 490,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, following the anticipated completion of the Phase 3 concentrator during the third quarter of 2024.
The phased expansion is projected to make Kamoa-Kakula the third-largest copper complex globally.
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