Kakula Resource Area

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As of February 26, 2018, this is the defined indicated and inferred resource area for the Kakula Deposit which compromises the main Kakula and Kakula West ore bodies. The deposit is open to the east at the its west end which is the main Kakula discovery, and at Kakula West is open to the west; southwest; and northeast.

To date the mineralisation identified for the Kamoa project is typical of sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits. Regionally the geology is comprised of sedimentary rocks of the 880–500 Ma Katangan basin that were deposited on Paleoproterozoic composite basement rocks. Katangan strata occur on both sides of the DRC–Zambian border and define a northerly-directed thinskinned thrust-and-fold orogenic system, known as the the Lufilian Arc, which was the result of the convergence of the Congo and Kalahari cratons. The Katanga Supergroup is a sequence comprised of the metasedimentary rocks that host the Central African Copperbelt mineralisation, and include the Roan, Lower Kundelungu, and Upper Kundelungu Groups. Copper mineralisation can occur at several of the stratigraphic levels within these Groups.

At the Kakula deposit it is more difficult to define and correlate the basal diamictite units with the Kamoa deposit due to significant thickening of the diamictite basal units. Mineralisation is concentrated within a basal siltstone layer occurring just above the Roan (R4.2) contact. From the base of mineralisation upward, the hypogene copper sulphides in the mineralised sequence are zoned with chalcocite (Cu2S), bornite (Cu5FeS4) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), with chalcocite being the dominant mineral. Copper mineralisation comprises three distinct styles: supergene, hypogene, and mixed mineralisation. Near the surface adjacent to the Domes the diamictites have been leached which resulted in localized zones of copper oxides and secondary copper sulphide enrichment down-dip in the supergene zones. Although high-grade, these supergene zones are relatively narrow and localised. Hypogene mineralisation forms the dominant mineralisation style and occurs at depths as shallow as 30 m.

On February 26, 2018 Ivanhoe announced a 50% increase in Indicated Mineral Resources at a 3% cut-off grade, at the ultra-high-grade Kakula Deposit. Kakula now contains Indicated Mineral Resources of 174 million tonnes at 5.62% copper, plus additional Inferred Mineral Resources of 9 million tonnes at 3.66% copper, at a 3% cut-off. At a 1% cut-off, Kakula’s Indicated Mineral Resources have increased by 58%, now totalling 585 million tonnes at 2.92% copper. Kakula’s strike length now extends to 13.3 kilometres and remains open for significant expansion. Kakula’s new estimate boosts combined Kamoa-Kakula Indicated Mineral Resources to 1.03 billion tonnes at 3.17% copper, containing approximately 72 billion pounds of copper, plus an additional 183 million tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources at 2.31% copper, at a 1.5% cut-off.

Inferred Mineral Resources total 113 million tonnes at a grade of 1.90% copper, containing 4.7 billion pounds of copper at a 1% copper cut-off. At a 2% copper cut-off, Inferred Mineral Resources total 44 million tonnes at a 2.59% copper grade, containing 2.5 billion pounds of copper. At a higher cut-off of 3% copper, Inferred Mineral Resources total 9 million tonnes at a grade of 3.66% copper, containing 0.7 billion pounds of copper.