Construction works on the new 34-km highway directly linking the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project in Democratic Republic of Congo to the Kolwezi airport in Zambia is on track.
The Kamoa-Kakula Project is approximately 25km west of the mining centre of Kolwezi in the DRC. It is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%) and the DRC government (20%). Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining are co-funding development of the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project.
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DRC- Zambia highway
Kamoa-Kakula joint venture is constructing 19 km of the new provincial road, while the Lualaba provincial government is constructing the remaining 15 km under a toll concession agreement with a DRC-based contracting company.
The new east-west road is approximately 25% complete and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2019. The road is set to provide Kamoa-Kakula with a direct, high-quality connection to the national road between Kolwezi and Lubumbashi, and to a proposed, new south-bound provincial road that will connect to Lumwana, Zambia and the Zambian rail system, via a planned new border crossing.
The toll road also will include a new north-bound, nine-kilometre section of road connecting all the mines on the western side of Kolwezi to the new provincial road. A separate eight-kilometre, private mine access road also is being constructed by the Kamoa-Kakula joint venture at Kamoa-Kakula to safely by-pass the villages of Israel and Kaponda.
This will significantly improve Kamoa-Kakula’s transportation corridor that is being used to bring in mining equipment and construction materials, and that will be used to transport copper concentrates.
The new road additionally, will improve the safety and commuting time for employees between Kamoa-Kakula and Kolwezi and Lubumbashi, as well as for mine visitors arriving at the Kolwezi airport. The private mine road also will be available for transporting ore mined elsewhere on the Kamoa-Kakula Project to the Kakula concentrator for processing.
