Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF) is accelerating plans for its Makoko District in the Democratic Republic of Congo after expanding the giant discovery by 30% from its 2025 estimate to about 12 million tonnes of contained copper, with more growth expected from ongoing drilling.
The Canadian miner said Tuesday the Makoko district, part of its Western Forelands project, now holds 42 million tonnes of indicated resources grading 2.66% copper and 612 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 1.8% copper.
The fresh results strengthen Ivanhoe’s plans to advance what it calls the world’s largest and highest-grade copper discovery of the past decade.
The resource increase comes as rising copper prices and a dwindling pipeline of major discoveries intensify concerns about future supply. Congo, already the world’s second-largest copper producer, is becoming increasingly important to meeting that demand.
Ivanhoe plans to begin a scoping study for Makoko in the first quarter of 2027 while expanding drilling to support faster project development.
Development plans
The company is considering a series of shallow open pits alongside underground mining, an approach it says could reduce upfront capital requirements and shorten the path to first production.
Ivanhoe has already begun site preparation, including fencing, road construction and environmental baseline work.
The company expects to draw on its experience developing the nearby Kamoa-Kakula copper complex, which advanced from discovery to first production in less than six years. Ivanhoe owns Kamoa-Kakula alongside China’s Zijin and the Congolese government.
Makoko’s resource could grow further. About 60,000 metres of drilling completed in 2026 was not incorporated into the latest estimate, while mineralization remains open in multiple directions, Ivanhoe founder Robert Friedland said.
“Our track record of copper discovery in the Western Forelands is unrivalled… We are discovering copper at an absurdly high discovery rate of 100 million pounds of contained copper for every 1,000 metres drilled,” Friedland said.
Copper pipeline
The scale of Makoko gives Ivanhoe another potential source of long-term production in one of the world’s most important copper jurisdictions as miners confront a shortage of large, high-grade discoveries capable of supplying future demand.
Western Forelands also places Ivanhoe near infrastructure and expertise developed for Kamoa-Kakula, potentially giving the company advantages as it assesses how quickly and economically Makoko can be brought into production.
Makoko’s scale gives Ivanhoe another potential source of long-term copper production in Congo as miners struggle to replace aging operations with large, high-grade discoveries.
Source: https://www.mining.com/ivanhoes-giant-makoko-copper-find-gets-30-bigger/
