Ivanhoe ships first copper through Angola via railway

Cecilia Jamasmie | January 3, 2024 

The first train of copper concentrate from Kamoa-Kakula, consisting of 16 wagons. (Image courtesy of Ivanhoe Mines.)

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF) said its first shipment of copper concentrate from its Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had arrived by rail to the port of Lobito, in Angola.


The trial run consists of sending a total of 10,000 tonnes of copper concentrate along the new railway from the DRC through Angola, along the Lobito corridor.

The first 1,100 tonnes were sent on December 23 and arrived at Lobito on December 31, 2023. The shipment shows that Ivanhoe could shorten its export route from Kamoa-Kakula by two thirds, simplifying logistics and cutting costs.

Currently, the Canadian miner trucks copper concentrates from Kamoa-Kakula across sub-Saharan Africa to the ports of Durban in South Africa and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, as well as Beira in Mozambique and Walvis Bay in Namibia.

The rail line, linking the DRC Copperbelt to the port of Lobito in Angola, is known as the Lobito Atlantic Railway Corridor. (Image: Ivanhoe Mines.)

Last year, nearly 90% of Kamoa-Kakula’s concentrates were shipped to international customers from the ports in South Africa and Tanzania, with an average round-trip taking between 40 and 50 days.

“Our first trial shipment is an important milestone on the path to creating a new supply chain linking the Central African Copperbelt to world markets,” Ivanhoe Mines founder and co-chairman Robert Friedland said in the statement.

“Establishing a reliable, modern rail link to the port of Lobito in Angola will have transformational benefits for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Zambia,” Friedland said.

Once fully active, the Lobito Atlantic Railway Corridor is also expected to reduce the Scope 3 emissions carbon footprint of Kamoa-Kakula copper exports.