Trafigura and Kamoa-Kakula have signed a contract with the Lobito Atlantic Railway to transport minerals for at least six years between the African Copperbelt and the Atlantic coast of Angola.
Reserved Capacity Agreements were signed during the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, representing the initial long-term commercial commitments to the Lobito Atlantic Railway.
Trafigura's Lobito Atlantic Railway export capacity will increase to 450,000 tonnes per year by 2025.
The Kamoa-Kakula copper complex, a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining, has a minimum capacity of 120,000 tonnes and up to 240,000 tonnes of blister-anode or concentrate from 2025, with 10,000 tonnes scheduled for transport in 2024 as the railway expands.
"We are pleased to be one of the first commercial customers to agree terms for a long-term commitment to use the Lobito Atlantic Railway and we look forward to welcoming other customers to join Ivanhoe Mines and Trafigura in the coming months,” said Trafigura chief executive Jeremy Weir.
“These commitments announced today support the consortium’s aim to grow the volumes on the corridor so that it becomes the leading rail transport link in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Ivanhoe Mines founder and executive co-chairperson Robert Friedland said the transformative economic corridor will unlock more copper projects due to the lower logistical costs.
“Cheaper logistics increase the amount of economically recoverable copper across the Copperbelt, as cut-off grades can be lowered,” he said.
“This makes a significant impact on discoveries made in the DRC, such as the recent high-grade and open-ended Kitoko copper discovery in the Western Foreland, where we are stepping up exploration activities this year to find more ultra-green copper metal.”
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, from Cape Town, South Africa, Rough&Polished
