Ivanhoe Mines Advances Discussions to Launch a New Era of Production at the Historic Kipushi zinc-copper-silver-germanium Mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF), and Lars-Eric Johansson, Chief Executive Officer, announced today that negotiations are underway with government agencies – Gécamines, the state-owned miner and Ivanhoe’s partner at Kipushi, and Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo (SNCC), the DRC’s national railway company – and potential project financiers to advance agreements to launch a new era of commercial production at the upgraded Kipushi zinc-copper-silver-germanium mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
As quoted in the press release:

“The KICO team, which includes more than 390 Congolese nationals, has done a fantastic job in safely upgrading the mine’s underground infrastructure in anticipation of restarting production,” said Mr. Friedland.
“Given the extremely high zinc grades at Kipushi, the mine has the potential to become one of the world’s largest and lowest-cost zinc producers, while also producing significant quantities of copper, silver and germanium. With the current, long-term, bullish market sentiment for zinc, we look forward to working with our partner, Gécamines, prospective project financiers and our team at Kipushi to fast-track completion of the remaining development at the mine.
“Since the PEA was issued in May 2016, we have made major strides towards completing the underground infrastructure upgrading program and we are much closer to achieving our vision of building a world-class zinc operation at Kipushi,” Mr. Friedland added.

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