08:57 AM EDT, 06/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Ivanhoe Mines ( IVPAF ) said Tuesday that it achieved first concentrate production at the phase 3 concentrator of the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ivanhoe said the phase 3 concentrator expansion was completed nearly two quarters ahead of schedule and would boost the mine's production to over 600,000 tonnes per year of copper.

The company reached the milestone about two weeks after feeding the first ore into the concentrator.

The ramp-up to commercial production is targeted for early in the third quarter.

Ivanhoe said the phase 3 concentrator would increase the total design processing capacity of Kamoa-Kakula to 14.2 million tonnes per annum, which would make it the world's third-largest mine and the largest in Africa.