Kenmare Resources - Re: KMR Stream Log - (2014-08-04) The Irish company Kenmare...

(2014-08-04) The Irish company Kenmare Resources, which is exploiting the titanium-bearing heavy mineral sands in Moma, on the coast of the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, announced on Friday that it has extended a loan provided by Absa Bank. As a result, the 20 million US dollar loan will now be due for repayment on 31 March 2016. The company has also restructured debt to project lenders so that repayments due in August 2014, February 2015 and August 2015 will now be made under a mechanism dependent on the level of cash generated at the mine. According to Kenmare’s Managing Director, Michael Carvill, “we are pleased to have concluded this agreement with the project lenders and Absa which will enable us to conserve cash and provide greater flexibility during the current period of low product prices”. In July, the company announced that it had produced record levels of ilmenite and zircon in the second quarter of 2014. The company revealed that ilmenite production in the first half of this year totalled 445,600 tonnes, which represents a 47 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2013. Zircon production rose to 21,400 tonnes, an increase of twelve per cent. As a result, shipments of finished products rose by 36 per cent to 399,000 tonnes in the first half of 2014. However, Carvill warned that product prices remain subdued. Ilmenite (iron titanium oxide) and rutile (titanium dioxide) are used to make white pigments for paints, paper and plastic. Titanium can be extracted from these ores and used to manufacture metallic parts where light weight and high strength are needed. Zircon (zirconium silicate) is used for abrasive and insulating purposes.