(Ecofin Agency) - Ivanhoe Mines has concluded with Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer du Congo (SNCC), a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to rehabilitate the railway that connects its Kipushi mine to Munama, South of Lubumbashi.

Under the MoU, construction works will begin at the end of 2018. Ivanhoe will appoint consultants to conduct front-end engineering study to assess the impact and cost of rehabilitation of this infrastructure which is offline since 2011.

According to Robert Friedland (picture), CEO Ivanhoe, reviving the railway is the most economical solution for the transport of the future zinc concentrate production of 530,000 tons/yr from the Kipushi mine. Indeed, he believes that a single train can substitute 50 road trucks, and is thus more beneficial, in terms of security and environmental impact.

Ivanhoe’s goal, it should be recalled, is to restart production at Kipushi, a mine existing since 1924 and exploited until 1993.

Louis-Nino Kansoun