Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF) is expanding its exploration footprint into another top 10 copper-producing nation, with a view of replicating the success it has had within the Central African Copperbelt.
This week, the company announced it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Zambia’s mining ministry and government for exploration activities in the country. The signing took place on August 26, involving the Zambian mining minster Paul Kabuswe and permanent secretary Dr. Hapenga Kabeta, alongside Ivanhoe’s senior management.
The MOU outlines how Ivanhoe intends to co-develop prospective projects together in partnership with the government to ensure the long-term sustainable development of Zambia’s mineral resources, while providing a sustainable contribution to the Zambian economy and its communities.
Ivanhoe said the MOU includes commitments by the mining ministry to share information, identify prospective land packages, provide access to existing and new geological data collected by the Zambian government (including a recently announced 750,000-km2 country-wide airborne geophysical survey), and provide guidance and support in relation to the application of new licences.
In parallel with the signing of the MOU, the company said it has also applied for a significant exploration licence package in Zambia, with adjudication and award targeted by year-end.
Following successful application of the licences, it intends to invest in exploration activities in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Zambia, with a view to co-developing viable mining projects in a joint venture with the Zambia government.
Ivanhoe said its strategy in Zambia is to follow the same model of success that led to the discovery and development of the world-class Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it has discovered 50 million tonnes of copper over a 20-period.
“Ivanhoe Mines is just getting started in expanding our global exploration footprint to discover more of the vital green metals that the world so desperately needs for advanced industrialization and electrification,” Ivanhoe founder and executive co-chair Robert Friedland said in a news release.
“The spirit of this agreement is the same as the partnership we embarked upon with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo when we started exploring and developing Kamoa-Kakula, which is fast becoming the world’s third largest copper mine only three years since we commenced production,” Friedland said.
Also in Africa, Ivanhoe holds 22,195 km2 of greenfield prospecting rights for exploration in the Moxico and Cuando Cubango provinces of Angola. The company has so far committed an initial exploration budget of $10 million for the region.
