Ivanhoe Mines announced a number of opportunities to accelerate planned expansions at the company's world-scale portfolio of mining and exploration assets, that may be funded in part with the proceeds from the recently completed USD 575 million, 2.50% convertible senior notes offering. The high-priority opportunities include accelerating the Phase 3 expansion at the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Fast-tracking additional hydropower upgrades in the DRC also is a high- priority opportunity to ensure abundant clean and renewable electricity for all subsequent expansions at Kamoa-Kakula. The management team also is evaluating a potential, state-of-the-art, direct-to-blister smelter that could bring numerous economic benefits and further reduce the project's Scope 3 emissions. The funding also will provide opportunities to expand and accelerate the copper exploration program on the company's Western Foreland exploration licences, located in close proximity to the Kamoa-Kakula mining licence. The upgrading work at the Mwadingusha hydropower plant in the DRC is nearing completion with the synchronization of the first turbine achieved in December 2020. Commissioning and synchronization of the second and third turbines are underway. Electricity from all of Mwadingusha's six turbines, with an upgraded output of 78 megawatts, is expected to be integrated into the national power grid in the second quarter of 2021. The work is being conducted by engineering firm Stucky of Lausanne, Switzerland, under the direction of Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining, in private-public partnership with the DRC's state-owned power company, La Société Nationale d'Electricité (SNEL). Kamoa Copper is considering the potential construction of a smelting complex for the production of blister and anode copper. A downstream processing facility has a compelling rationale, significantly reducing the overall volumes of copper concentrate shipped from the mine and the cost of transportation and logistics, export taxes and concentrate treatment charges, as well as producing sulphuric acid as a by-product. There is a strong demand and market for sulphuric acid in the DRC to recover oxide copper ores. DRC copper mines currently import significant volumes of sulphur and sulphuric acid for the treatment of oxide copper ores. The Kamoa-Kakula 2020 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) included the construction of a smelter complex, based on Finland-based Outotec's direct-to-blister furnace technology that is suitable for treating Kakula-type concentrates with relatively high copper/sulphur ratio, and low iron. China Nerin Engineering acted as the main engineering consultant with Outotec, providing design and costing for propriety equipment, including the direct blister furnace, waste heat boiler, and the slag cleaning electric furnace. The smelter design capacity is between 750,000 and 1 million tonnes per annum of concentrate feed, producing in excess of 400 ktpa copper in the form of blister and anode, with a capital cost in the region of US$600 million (100%-basis) to be jointly financed with Ivanhoe's equal partner Zijin Mining, which is expected to be funded through a combination of internal cash flows and project-level debt. The power requirement for the direct-to-blister smelter is approximately 35 megawatts, which may be supplied by additional hydropower investments in the DRC. This also would enable the Kamoa-Kakula Project to further reduce its Scope 3 carbon-equivalent emissions.