• Tom van den Berg will become COO on January 1, replacing Mark Farren.
• He will oversee Kamoa-Kakula, Kipushi, and Platreef as production ramps up.
• Transition focuses on stabilizing Kamoa-Kakula after this year’s seismic incident.

Tom van den Berg, currently a senior operations executive at the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will become Chief Operating Officer of Ivanhoe Mines on January 1, 2026. The Canadian mining company announced the change yesterday, November 26, adding that the current COO, Mark Farren, will move into a strategic advisory role on the board.

In his new position, van den Berg is expected to strengthen Ivanhoe Mines’ technical expertise and operational performance. His promotion comes at a key moment for the company, which operates Kamoa-Kakula as well as the Kipushi zinc mine in the DRC and the Platreef polymetallic mine in South Africa.

Platreef entered its first production phase last week, with output expected to include platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold, plus nickel and copper as by-products. At Kipushi, commissioned in June 2024, production is still ramping up. While van den Berg will oversee all these developments, his immediate priority will remain Kamoa-Kakula.

According to the company, he will stay on-site in the DRC during a transition period to supervise the operational recovery plan. Production at Kamoa-Kakula was disrupted earlier this year by a seismic incident in its underground section, forcing Ivanhoe Mines to cut its annual forecast to a maximum of 420,000 tons of copper. Production targets for 2026 are expected next week.

Aurel Sèdjro Houenou