Kenmare Reports Lower January Output at Moma

2012-03-06

Mar. 5, 2012 - The January production at Irish mining group Kenmare Resources’ Moma mine, in Mozambique, was lower-than-expected, owing to the continuing effect on mining of a clay-rich ore band in the mine path and significantly adverse weather conditions.
The company said Monday that these factors also negatively impacted on the mine’s February output, brining the overall production to 116 500 t of heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) in January and February. This HMC was processed by the mineral separation plant that produced 76 500 t of ilmenite and 7 100 t of zircon, including 3 700 t of a secondary zircon product.
However, February showed some alleviation, as the dredges moved into higher faces.
To minimise the impact of the clay-rich ore on mine production of HMC during 2012, a 500 t/h supplementary dry-mining operation was commissioned and being ramped-up to 1 000 t/h. Ramp-up would continue in March.
Production was also hampered by a number of power outages this year, largely a result of an unusually active cyclone season that impacted on power reliability on the national grid, Kenmare said in a statement.
To prevent damage, the company adopted a proactive approach by shutting down its plants as cyclones approached, which resulted in some operational downtime. Kenmare said it was also reviewing the use of voltage stabilisation equipment to further stabilise its electricity supply.
To ensure the optimal product mix and maximise revenues in a positive market, another supplementary dry-mining operation would be established for an additional 1 000 t/h later this year. Kenmare said the supplementary dry-mining operations represented an interim solution to varying mining conditions.
Further, the company purchased a new dredge for the expansion of the Moma mine with significantly greater capacity and was currently reviewing proposals to commission the construction of a similar larger, higher-capacity dredge to replace one of the existing dredges in Mining Pond A.
This would provide a comprehensive, long-term, low-operating cost solution to variable mining conditions, Kenmare stated.
In light of the approaching end of the cyclone season in March to April and as supplementary dry-mining operations continued to ramp-up, Kenmare expected to return to increasingly normal production levels over the coming weeks.
Further updates on Kenmare’s first quarter production would be provided with its 2011 full-year results that would be released on April 14.