Friedland warns about Strait of Hormuz impact on copper mining
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. [IVN-TSX, IVPAF-OTC] Co-Chairman Robert Friedland has warned about the impact of the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transportation artery for the shipping of Middle East oil and gas.
“We are expecting that the continued closure of the Straits of Hormuz will have a profound effect on global supply chains,’’ Friendland said in a press release containing Ivanhoe’s first quarter 2026 results. “Therefore, contingency plans have been drawn up across Ivanhoe’s operating sites to sustain its operations, including advanced diesel purchases,’’ Friedland said. “Our mine-site managers are prudent and optimistic that we are well positioned,’’ he said. “If the closure of the Straits of Hormuz continues, we are especially concerned about the availability of precursor materials necessary for the mining industry to continue operating. A second-derivative effect will be on global copper production due to the shortage of the world’s most important industrial chemical, sulphuric acid.’’
Friedland said approximately 20% of global copper supply relies on a process that uses sulphuric acid to leach copper from oxide ores. “With approximately 50% of the global seaborne sulphur supply cut off, sulphur and sulphuric acid makets are becoming extremely tight,’’ he said.
He went on to say that against this backdrop, Ivanhoe’s Kamoa-Kakula mining complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo is ideally positioned as a producer and seller, and therefore not a consumer of sulphuric acid. “Kamoa-Kakula has a very low rate of diesel consumption per tonne of copper produced further strengthening the strategic advantage of our integrated operations,” Friedland said.
During the first quarter of 2026, Kamoa-Kakula produced 71,417 tonnes of copper in blister and anode. The total amount consisted of 63,671 tonnes of copper in anode produced by Kamoa-Kakula’s on-site, direct-to-blister copper smelter and 7,746 tonnes of copper blister produced at the Lualaba Copper Smelter in Kolweze. In addition, Kamoa-Kakula’s on-site copper smelter produced 117,871 tonnes of high-strength sulphuric acid during the quarter.
Ivanhoe Mines shares advance on the news, rising 3.5% or 40 cents to $11.90. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $20.34 and $8.76
The Kamoa-Kakula copper mine is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Ltd., (0.8%) and the Government of the Democratic Republic (20%). It is a very large, near-surface, flat-lying, stratiform copper deposit with adjacent prospective exploration areas within the Central African Copperbelt, approximately 25 kilometres west of the town of Kolwezi, and about 270 kilometres west of the provincial capital of Lubumbashi.
Ivanhoe is engaged in the staged development of the Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel-gold rhodium-copper mine in South Africa. Ramp-up of the Platreef Mine is advancing on track with commercial production expected by mid-year.