| Tenke Fungurume Mine | |
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| Location | |
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Tenke Fungurume Mine
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| Province | Katanga Province |
| Country | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Production | |
| Products | Copper, cobalt |
| History | |
| Opened | 2009 |
The Tenke Fungurume Mine holds one of the world's largest known copper and cobalt resources. The deposits are located within two concessions totaling over 1,500 square kilometres (580 sq mi) in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).[1]
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The mining project is a partnership led by Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold, the Lundin Mining Corporation and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, through Gecamines.[2] As of September 2009 Freeport-McMoRan operated the mine and held 58.8%, Lundin held 24.8% and Gécamines (La Générale des Carrières et des Mines) held the remaining 17.5%. The contract had yet to be reviewed by the government under a "revisitation" process started earlier that year. Tenke Fungurume is the largest copper mine in the DRC. The first phase at the mine cost US$1.8bn to build.[3]
The first copper cathode was produced in March 2009, and the plant was working at planned capacity by September 2009. In the third quarter of 2009 the cobalt plant and the sulphuric acid plant were commissioned. It is expected that the operation will produce 250,000,000 pounds (110,000,000 kg) of copper metal and 18,000,000 pounds (8,200,000 kg) of cobalt annually.[4]