Ivanhoe Mines is in talks with potential partners to develop copper assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to Mining Weekly.
Global copper supply is now facing new challenges, with rising demand exacerbating the global copper shortage.
"We are in various strategic discussions and, as you know, most of the most interested investors tend to be sovereign investors," Ivanhoe Mines founder Robert Friedland told Bloomberg Television. "We just want to do something to help it grow."
The shift to decarbonization will require huge amounts of copper to produce electric cars, extend transmission lines and install new wires in renewable energy sources.
Few major copper mines have started operations in recent years, with only two starting between 2017 and 2021, according to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG).
Although four mines are now coming on stream at about the same time - Kamoa-Kakula in Congo, Quellaveco in Peru and Quebrada Blanca II and Spence-SGO in Chile - major market players still expect massive supply shortages by 2030.
Friedland told the Indaba conference in South Africa this week that 700 million tons of copper have been mined in human history and another 700 million tons will be needed over the next 22 years to keep the world growing at 3 percent a year.
Ivanhoe Mines owns the Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese mine produced 333,500 tonnes of copper in 2022, more than double what it produced a year earlier. An expansion (Phase III) is currently underway and will have an annual capacity of 620,000 tons when completed in 2024.
Friedland is not alone in touting Africa as a copper paradise. Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) will invest $1.8 billion to double its copper and cobalt production on the continent, Chief executive Officer Benedikt Sobotka said earlier this week.
