METALKOL

Metalkol

2018

Phase I
commissioned

2020

Phase II
commissioned

June Construction started in
2015

Metalkol is a comprehensive hydro-metallurgical facility which has become one of the world's largest producers of cobalt and a large producer of copper. 

Metalkol has circularity at the core of its business model. Unlike conventional mining operations which extract primary ore, at Metalkol, the historic copper-cobalt tailings from third-party mining activities are reclaimed and reprocessed.

ERG has expanded production capacity at Metalkol ten-fold in just three years. Metalkol’s capacity to extract around 100,000 mt of copper and more than 24,000 mt of cobalt annually is enough to power over 3.5 million electric vehicles.

The Metalkol operation is helping to improve and decontaminate the local environment and has a carbon footprint substantially lower than most of its peers. The  operation is progressively reducing the impact of approximately 30 million tonnes of historical tailings that have been dry-stacked at the dust-emitting Kingamyambo Tailings Dam and approximately 80 million tonnes that were dumped in the Musonoi River valley. These are extracted and reprocessed at the operation’s state-of-the-art plant and are then re-deposited into a modern, centralised and comprehensively managed TSF. It is subject to regular inspections, monitoring and reporting, and is supported by both a dedicated Engineer of Record and an independent testing laboratory.

 

Target products and capacity:

Metalkol is a comprehensive hydro-metallurgical facility which has become one of the world's largest producers of cobalt and a large producer of copper. Metalkol has circularity at the core of its business model. Unlike conventional mining operations which extract primary ore, at Metalkol, the historic copper-cobalt tailings from third-party mining activities are reclaimed and reprocessed. ERG has expanded production capacity at Metalkol ten-fold in just three years. Metalkol’s capacity to extract around 100,000 mt of copper and more than 24,000 mt of cobalt annually is enough to power over 3.5 million electric vehicles. The Metalkol operation is helping to improve and decontaminate the local environment and has a carbon footprint substantially lower than most of its peers. The  operation is progressively reducing the impact of approximately 30 million tonnes of historical tailings that have been dry-stacked at the dust-emitting Kingamyambo Tailings Dam and approximately 80 million tonnes that were dumped in the Musonoi River valley. These are extracted and reprocessed at the operation’s state-of-the-art plant and are then re-deposited into a modern, centralised and comprehensively managed TSF. It is subject to regular inspections, monitoring and reporting, and is supported by both a dedicated Engineer of Record and an independent testing laboratory.

Target products and capacity:

Cu

copper

105,000 tpa

Co

cobalt

24,000 tpa

Cu

copper

105,000 tpa

Co

cobalt
24,000 tpa

 

Location:

Near Kolwezi, the Democratic
Republic of Congo.

Location:

Near Kolwezi, the Democratic
Republic of Congo.

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