Producer
Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (Vancouver, Canada; TSX/Nasdaq: IVN; ~$3B revenue; ~$20B market cap) is the developer and operator of Kamoa-Kakula in the Democratic Republic of Congo — the world's highest-grade large copper deposit, opened in 2021, and one of the most consequential new mine developments in copper history. Kamoa-Kakula (Ivanhoe 39.6%, Zijin Mining 39.6%, Crystal River 0.8%, DRC government 20%) produced approximately 394,000 tonnes of copper in 2023 — its third year of operations — making it already one of the top 5 copper mines in the world. The deposit has measured and indicated resources of over 40 million tonnes of copper and an average grade of 3.6% Cu, far exceeding the global average copper ore grade of ~0.5-0.9%. Kamoa-Kakula is ramping toward 500,000+ tonnes/year capacity by mid-decade. Ivanhoe also controls Platreef (South Africa; platinum-group metals, nickel, copper, gold) and Western Foreland (exploration licenses surrounding Kamoa-Kakula). Robert Friedland (founder of Ivanhoe) simultaneously discovered and developed two of the world's most significant metal deposits in two decades: Oyu Tolgoi (Mongolia, sold) and Kamoa-Kakula (DRC).
1
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
1
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
1 input Ivanhoe Mines supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Ivanhoe Mines makes, pick one to see the full supply chain.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Kamoa-Kakula (Copper, DRC)
60%Platreef (PGMs, Nickel, DRC/South Africa)
28%Kipushi (Zinc, DRC)
12%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2024
Ivanhoe's Platreef deposit in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex hosts a single ore body containing platinum and palladium (critical for catalytic converters in combustion vehicles), rhodium (the most valuable PGM, used in three-way catalysts), nickel and copper (EV battery supply chain), and gold. The same Ivanhoe mine under development in Limpopo Province simultaneously feeds: ICE vehicle exhaust catalyst supply chains (PGMs), hydrogen fuel cell catalyst supply chains (platinum), and EV battery supply chains (nickel/copper). The transition from combustion to electric vehicles theoretically reduces PGM demand while increasing nickel/copper demand — but both demand streams converge at the same Platreef ore body, meaning Ivanhoe benefits regardless of which automotive technology wins.
Ivanhoe Mines ↗Origin2023
Ivanhoe Mines was built by Robert Friedland — the same Robert Friedland who was Steve Jobs' roommate and commune manager at Reed College in the early 1970s and whom Jobs later credited as a formative influence. Friedland's mining career included the Summitville gold mine environmental disaster in Colorado (Galactic Mining Corp) and the $4.3 billion sale of the Voisey's Bay nickel deposit to INCO in 1996 — then the largest natural resource transaction in Canadian history. Friedland used the Voisey's Bay proceeds to fund Ivanhoe's development of the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery in the DRC, which opened in 2021 as the world's highest-grade large copper deposit and is now a transformative new source of copper for the energy transition.
Ivanhoe Mines ↗