Ivanhoe Mines has significantly expanded its giant Makoko copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo, increasing the resource estimate by 30% from its 2025 assessment to approximately 12 million tonnes of contained copper. The expansion was announced on September 8, 2026, and reflects ongoing drilling success at the Western Forelands project. The Makoko district now hosts 42 million tonnes of indicated resources grading 2.66% copper and 612 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 1.8% copper, according to the company's announcement.
Ivanhoe describes Makoko as the world's largest and highest-grade copper discovery of the past decade, and the latest resource increase strengthens the company's development strategy for the project. The timing of this expansion comes as global copper markets face mounting supply concerns. Rising copper prices and a dwindling pipeline of major discoveries have intensified focus on future supply adequacy.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, already the world's second-largest copper producer, is becoming increasingly critical to meeting worldwide copper demand. Ivanhoe plans to commence a scoping study for the Makoko project in the first quarter of 2027 while accelerating drilling programs to support faster development. The company is evaluating a development strategy combining shallow open pit mining with underground operations, an approach designed to reduce initial capital requirements and accelerate the timeline to first production.
Site preparation activities have already commenced, including fencing, road construction, and environmental baseline studies. The company benefits from proximity to the nearby Kamoa-Kakula copper complex, which Ivanhoe developed alongside China's Zijin Mining and the Congolese government. Ivanhoe achieved first production at Kamoa-Kakula in less than six years from discovery, demonstrating execution capability in the region.
Ivanhoe founder Robert Friedland emphasized the exceptional discovery rate at Western Forelands, noting that the company discovered copper at a rate of 100 million pounds of contained copper for every 1,000 metres drilled. Approximately 60,000 metres of drilling completed in 2026 has not yet been incorporated into the current resource estimate, and mineralization remains open in multiple directions, suggesting the resource could expand further. The Makoko discovery addresses a critical challenge facing the mining industry: replacing aging copper operations with large, high-grade discoveries capable of supplying long-term demand.
Makoko's scale and location in Congo position Ivanhoe to develop another major copper production center, leveraging infrastructure and operational expertise developed at Kamoa-Kakula.
Source: mining.com