KOLWEZI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF) President, Marna Cloete, announced today that Riaan Vermeulen has been appointed as Kamoa Copper’s new Managing Director, effective June 1, 2022.
Mr. Vermeulen will work with Kamoa Copper’s current CEO Mark Farren during a handover period to ensure a smooth transition prior to Mr. Farren’s retirement.
Mr. Vermeulen has more than 32 years of underground and open-pit mining experience in various operational, project and technical management roles, including Acting Head of Mining: Base Metals for Anglo American.
His most recent role was Head of Projects with Debswana Diamond Company in Botswana, where he was responsible for all major projects, including Jwaneng Underground, Orapa Cut 3 and Orapa 2 plant expansion projects.
Prior to joining Debswana, Mr. Vermeulen was Head of Business Planning and Investments, Head of Technical and Head of Mining with De Beers. Prior to that he was Head of Mine Planning with Anglo Platinum.
Mr. Vermeulen previously worked closely with Mr. Farren at Anglo Platinum, where they designed and built Anglo Platinum’s most efficient underground mine ─ the Middelpunt Hill Platinum Mine.
Mr. Vermeulen has experience across different commodities, including base metals (copper, zinc, lead, niobium and phosphates), precious metals (gold and platinum) and diamonds. He has multi-geographical experience working in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Chile, Brazil, Ireland and Canada. He holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor’s in Mining Engineering. He also is a registered Professional Engineer in Botswana and South Africa.
Joining Mr. Vermeulen on Kamoa Copper’s executive management team is Zhang “Frank” Xingxun as Executive Director.
Mr. Zhang is a long-serving senior executive with Zijin Mining, and has held senior management positions at Zijin’s flagship Zijinshan Gold & Copper Mine and Smelter (Fujian), and Zijin’s Kolwezi copper operations – La Compagnie Minière de Musonoie Global (“COMMUS”).
During his career, Mr. Zhang has successfully implemented several large-scale technological projects for mine processing optimization, which has earned him numerous awards, including the Science and Technology Award issued by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
“We are thrilled to welcome Riaan and Frank into our family. Their seasoned experience will play an integral part in the next chapters of the Kamoa-Kakula growth story,” said Ms. Cloete. “New expansions and exploration opportunities will allow us to continue to build a bigger and bolder mining complex. We are incredibly excited about what is yet to come.”
About the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex
Kamoa-Kakula is the world’s fastest growing major copper mine. Kamoa-Kakula began operations in May 2021 and produced approximately 106,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate in 2021. Kamoa-Kakula’s 2022 production guidance is between 290,000 to 340,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate.
Based on independent benchmarking, the project’s phased expansion scenario to 19 Mtpa would position Kamoa-Kakula as the world’s second-largest copper mining complex, with peak annual copper production of more than 800,000 tonnes.
The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%) and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (20%). A 2020 independent audit of Kamoa-Kakula's greenhouse gas intensity metrics performed by Hatch Ltd. of Mississauga, Canada, confirmed that the project will be among the world's lowest greenhouse gas emitters per unit of copper produced.
About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa: the development of major new, mechanized, underground mines at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discoveries in the Democratic Republic of Congo and at the Platreef palladium-rhodium-platinum-nickel-copper-gold discovery in South Africa; and the extensive redevelopment and upgrading of the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kamoa-Kakula began producing copper concentrates in May 2021 and, through phased expansions, is positioned to become one of the world's largest copper producers. Kamoa-Kakula is being powered by clean, renewable hydro-generated electricity and is projected to be among the world’s lowest greenhouse gas emitters per unit of metal produced. Ivanhoe Mines has pledged to achieve net-zero operational greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine. Ivanhoe also is exploring for new copper discoveries on its Western Foreland exploration licences in the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the Kamoa-Kakula Project.
Information contacts
Investors: Bill Trenaman +1.604.331.9834 / Media: Matthew Keevil +1.604.558.1034
刚果民主共和国科卢韦齐 — 艾芬豪矿业 (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF) 总裁玛娜·克洛特 (Marna Cloete) 今天欣然宣布，卡莫阿铜业已任命瑞安·魏美伦 (Riaan Vermeulen) 为新任总经理，任期自2022年6月1日起生效。
魏美伦先生将在交接期间与卡莫阿铜业的现任首席执行官马克·法伦(Mark Farren) 充分合作，以确保过渡期顺利无缝衔接。
魏美伦先生在井下和露天采矿方面拥有超过32 年的经验，曾担任生产运营、项目管理和技术管理等方面的高级职务，包括英美资源集团基本金属部的执行主管。
加入艾芬豪矿业之前，他在博茨瓦纳的金刚石矿业公司戴比斯瓦纳 (Debswana) 担任项目负责人，负责该公司所有的大型项目，包括 Jwaneng地下矿山、Orapa Cut 3 及 Orapa 2 的扩建项目。
加入戴比斯瓦纳之前，魏美伦先生曾受聘于戴比尔斯 (De Beers)，期间曾担任该公司的业务规划和投资主管、技术主管和采矿主管的职务。在此之前，他曾在英美铂金出任矿山规划主管一职。
魏美伦先生效力英美铂金期间，与法伦先生合作无间，共同设计及建造了英美铂金最高效的地下矿山— Middelpunt Hill 铂金矿。
魏美伦先生拥有诸多矿种的工作经验，包括基本金属 (铜、锌、铅、铌和磷)、贵金属 (黄金和铂金)及金刚石，曾在南非、博茨瓦纳、纳米比亚、智利、巴西、爱尔兰和加拿大多地工作。魏美伦先生拥有机械工程硕士学位和采矿工程学士学位，是博茨瓦纳和南非的注册专业工程师。
同时，张兴勋先生 (Frank Zhang) 将加入卡莫阿铜业的高管团队，担任常务副总经理一职。
张先生供职紫金矿业多年并担任高管职位，曾在紫金矿业的旗舰项目—紫金山金铜矿和紫铜冶炼厂以及刚果金的科卢韦齐铜矿(COMMUS) 担任高管职务。
之前的职业生涯中，张先生成功实施了多个大型技术项目以优化选矿流程，赢得很多奖项，包括中国有色金属工业协会颁发的科学技术奖。
克洛特女士说﹕“我们热烈欢迎魏美伦先生和张兴勋先生加入卡莫阿大家庭。他们的丰富经验，将在卡莫阿-卡库拉的未来发展进程中发挥着不可或缺的作用。扩建和勘查的新机遇，将使我们能够继续建设规模更大、特色显著的矿山项目。我们对于未来充满信心和希望。”
关于卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿项目
卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿于2021年5月实现投产，于2021年共生产精矿含铜金属量约106,000吨。卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿2022年的精矿含铜金属生产指导目标为290,000至340,000吨。
根据独立研究机构排名，一旦产能扩大至1,900万吨/年，卡莫阿-卡库拉将成为全球第二大铜矿山，最高年产铜80多万吨。
卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿项目是艾芬豪矿业 (占股39.6%)、紫金矿业集团 (占股39.6%)、晶河全球 (占股0.8%) 及刚果民主共和国政府 (占股20%) 的合资项目。2020年，加拿大Hatch有限公司对卡莫阿-卡库拉的温室气体强度指标进行了独立审核，确认项目将会成为全球单位铜温室气体排放最低的矿山之一。
关于艾芬豪矿业
艾芬豪矿业是一家加拿大的矿业公司，正在推进旗下位于南部非洲的三大主要项目：位于刚果民主共和国的卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿和位于南非的普拉特瑞夫(Platreef) 钯-铑-铂-镍-铜-金矿的大型机械化地下矿山开发工程；以及同样位于刚果民主共和国、久负盛名的基普什(Kipushi) 锌-铜-锗-银矿的大型重建和改善工程。
卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿项目于2021年5月实现铜精矿生产，未来将分阶段进行扩建，预计将会成为全球最大规模的铜生产商之一。卡莫阿-卡库拉使用清洁、可再生的水电，并将成为世界上每单位金属温室气体排放量最低的矿山之一。艾芬豪矿业已作出承诺，卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿将致力实现净零运营温室气体排放 (范围一和二)。同时，艾芬豪正在刚果民主共和国境内、毗邻卡莫阿-卡库拉项目的西部前沿 (Western Foreland) 探矿权内寻找新的铜矿资源。
联系方式
投资者﹕比尔·特伦曼 (Bill Trenaman)，电话﹕+1.604.331.9834 / 媒体﹕马修·基维尔 (Matthew Keevil)，电话﹕ +1.604.558.1034