Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of Congo – May 12, 2025 – Kamoa Copper, a leading company in the DRC mining industry, today announced a significant leadership transition within its Board of Directors and Executive Committee.
After a distinguished tenure, Kamoa Copper’s Chairman from April 2021bto April 2025, Benoit Munanga , has stepped down from his role and has been replaced by Olivier Binyingo.
Mr. Binyingo has been serving on the Board of Directors of Kamoa Copper since April 2021 and has been an instrumental to building relationships with key institutions for the company over the past 4 years.
In addition to his role at Kamoa Copper, Olivier holds the position of Executive Vice President: DRC and Strategic Projects at Ivanhoe Mines, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kipushi Corporation, President of Ivanhoe Mines Energy DRC, and several leadership roles in other Ivanhoe Mines entities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In these different capacities, Olivier plays a pivotal role in managing relationships with key stakeholders for Ivanhoe Mines’ projects in the DRC and in driving strategic initiatives for their continued success.
Before joining Ivanhoe Mines in 2020, Olivier held senior positions in several award-winning professional services firms, advising clients on projects and operations across more than 40 African countries.
Kamoa Copper would like to express our gratitude to Ben Munanga for his invaluable contributions and dedication. His leadership and unwavering commitment have not only strengthened Kamoa’s market position but also fostered a culture of innovation and sustainability within the company.
As we bid farewell to Ben, we wish him success in his new endeavors.
Annebel Oosthuizen has been appointed as Managing Director, replacing Riaan Vermeulen. Ms. Oosthuizen previously served as Chief Executive, Commercial and has been an instrumental executive in the joint venture for 10 years.
Ms. Oosthuizen was appointed as the Chief Executive, Commercial for Kamoa Copper in September 2022. Prior to this, she joined the Kamoa-Kakula project in 2015 and served in progressively senior roles within the finance department, including as Executive, Finance.
Ms. Oosthuizen has 18 years of financial management experience in the mining sector across Africa. She was appointed to Kamoa Copper’s Executive Committee in 2020 and has served a critical role in ensuring a seamless and successful transition of Kamoa-Kakula from development project into an operating mining complex, building from scratch a world-class team and developing capabilities to manage an operation with annual sales of over $3 billion, while also overseeing complex commercial agreements and logistical flows across the African continent. Ms. Oosthuizen has diligently managed approximately $6 billion in capital investment to date at Kamoa Copper, including the self-financing of the Phase 2 and Phase 3 expansions, as well as the recently completed smelter.
Kamoa Copper would like to extend our gratitude to Riaan Vermeulen for his contributions in the rapid growth of the company and wish him well in his future endeavors. Riaan Vermeulen joined Kamoa in June 2022 as our Managing Director. His extensive background in underground and open-pit mining was invaluable in the construction of Kamoa 1 and Phase 3, which was completed months ahead of schedule and on budget. His unwavering commitment to safety set the standard during the construction of Phase 3, achieving a rare industry accomplishment of zero lost time injuries during the 10 million man-hours worked. Before starting his new endeavors, Riaan will assume the role of Senior Executive, Transition until May to support a smooth transition.
Victor Wu will join Kamoa Copper as the Executive Director replacing Mr. Zhang (Franck) Xingxun. Mr. Wu was previously the COO of Zijin Mining’s overseas operations, where he leverages his expertise in mining management to guide long-term planning, develop initiatives to enhance profitability and reduce costs, and improve relations with local communities
He is an expert in mineral deposits and holds a PhD in Mineral, Rock, and Ore Deposits. His extensive experience in managing mining projects and advancing mining technology was instrumental in the success of the Rosebel Gold Mine in Suriname. Before his role at Rosebel, he served as General Manager at the Aurora Gold Mine in Guyana and Guizhou Zijin Co., Ltd. in Southwest China.
Kamoa Copper would like to extend our gratitude to Mr. Zhang (Franck) Xingxun for his contribution to the company as the highest-ranking Zijin Mining official at Kamoa Copper. Frank Zhang joined Kamoa at the same time as Riaan. His wealth of knowledge, in particular smelting, was key in constructing the largest direct-to-blister smelter on the African continent. Frank has been instrumental in implementing environmentally sustainable practices, such as optimizing resource recovery and reducing waste through innovative metallurgical processes.
Tom van den Berg will join Kamoa Copper as Senior Executive, Operations, with 36 years of mining and development experience across South Africa in numerous operational leadership and management roles.
Most recently Senior Vice President, Mining Strategy and Technology, for Sibanye Stillwater Group Technical; also, as an Executive of Safety, Mining Technical with Harmony Gold; and Head of the Zero Harm Initiative for Anglo American Platinum. This was preceded by 10 years as an Operational Mining General Manager on large complex mining operations for Anglo American
Mr. van den Berg brings extensive underground and open-pit mining expertise and has experience developing strategic long-term operating partnerships and leading award-winning community and stakeholder engagement programs. Mr. van den Berg holds a master’s degree in business leadership and a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering. He also is a Fellow at the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Mr. Felix Yan, currently serving the CFO of overseas operations for Zijin Mining, will assume the role of Kamoa’s Chief Executive Officer, Finance replacing Ms. Xuelin (Minty) Cai. With an MBA and over 30 years of experience in financial management within the mining industry, Mr. Yan has held various senior positions over the past two decades, most notably with multiple affiliates of Sino Gold.
Following his success at Sino Gold, Mr. Yan was appointed as CFO of the joint venture Zeravshan LLC in Tajikistan before becoming the General Manager at Beijing Gufeng Chemicals of Techteam. Before joining Zijin in 2018, he served as CFO of Luoyang Kunyu Mining Co., Ltd.
We extend our sincere gratitude to Ms. Xuelin (Minty) Cai for her invaluable contributions to Kamoa Copper. Minty Cai joined Kamoa in 2020 as Chief Executive, Finance. During her five years at Kamoa, Minty’s mentorship and dedication to responsible practices helped shape our future leaders inspiring all who worked with her to achieve greatness. As Chief Executive, Finance, Minty oversaw financial operations and HR functions, while leading the services departments establishing a foundation for Kamoa Copper to become a word-class mine
About Kamoa Copper
The Kamoa Copper is a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global Limited (0.8%) and the DRC government (20%).
The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex is one of the highest-grade and fastest growing major copper mining operations globally. Copper concentrates were first produced in May 2021 and, through on-going Phase 2 and Phase 3 expansions, Kamoa Copper is positioned to become one of the world’s largest copper producing operations, with 2025 production guidance set at between 520,000 to 580,000 tons of copper in concentrate. The Kamoa Copper Complex is powered by clean, renewable hydro-generated electricity and is among one of the world’s lowest greenhouse gas emitters per tons of copper metal produced on a Scope 1 and 2 basis.