12/27/2023 0 Comments Top copper cathode producers![]() Namibia has a well-established mining industry focused mainly on the production of uranium, gold, diamonds and lead however, over the past several years copper production in the country has been rising. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated production issues in the country. South Africa’s mining industry overall has suffered steep declines in output in the past few years, brought on by several factors, including conflicts between industry and government, labor strikes and economic challenges. Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) subsidiary Palabora Mining Company operates the mine, smelter and refinery complex - South Africa’s only refined copper producer. Today, the Palabora copper mine remains one of the largest and deepest open-pit mines in the world. Yet South Africa was the first African nation to begin commercial-scale copper mining with the opening of the Palabora open-pit copper mine in 1966. South Africa is a mineral-rich country known primarily for its platinum-group metals - it ranks as the world’s leading platinum producer and the second largest palladium producer after Russia. These companies have also been subjected to rising resource nationalism, as evidenced by the Zambian government’s push to have a greater stake in the foreign companies mining within its borders. The Zambian government holds a minority shareholder position in each of these companies. Zambia’s Chamber of Mines states that the nation’s copper-mining industry is dominated by four major mines: Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX,NYSE:GOLD) Lumwana mine First Quantum Minerals’ (TSX: FM,OTC Pink:FQVLF) Kansanshi mine Mopani Copper Mines, which is majority owned by Glencore and Konkola Copper Mines, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources (NYSE: VEDL). Copper represents 60 percent of the country’s total exports. ![]() As of 2019, Zambia was the seventh largest copper producer in the world, generating 790,000 MT of the red metal that year. Zambia is Africa’s second biggest copper producer, accounting for 70 percent of the continent’s total copper output. According to Ivanhoe, Kamoa-Kakula has the potential to become the world’s second largest copper-mining complex. The future mine is part of the the Kamoa-Kakula project, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6 percent), China’s Zijin Mining (OTC Pink: ZIJMF,HKEX:2899) (39.6 percent), Crystal River Global (0.8 percent) and the DRC government (20 percent). With an initial mining rate of 3.8 million tonnes per annum at an average of 6.6 percent copper over the first five years of production, Kakula is expected to be the highest-grade major copper mine in the world. The company is looking to the third quarter of 2021 for first production at the Kakula mine. Glencore, one of the world’s largest copper-producing companies, owns two large-scale copper-cobalt mines in the country: Katanga and Mutanda, which both produce copper cathode and cobalt hydroxide.įor its part, Ivanhoe has been exploring in Africa since 1994, and today owns three major copper projects in the DRC. Nevertheless, mining giants such as Glencore (LSE: GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) and Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN,OTCQX:IVPAF) have established significant operations in the DRC. Combine that with the DRC government’s tax hikes for mining companies, and the industry has a high propensity for insecure supply lines. The DRC is a hot spot for both copper mining and the global call for conflict-free minerals - unsafe working conditions and the use of child labor in the country’s artisanal mining industry have prompted manufacturers to source ethical alternatives. ![]() ![]() Katanga is located on the Central African Copperbelt, the world’s largest and most prolific mineralized sediment-hosted copper belt. Most of the country’s copper operations are in the province of Katanga - it’s known for its vast mineral resources, which also include cobalt, tin, uranium and diamonds.
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