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[June 2009]
Moma Mine Reaches Breakeven Point – Announces New Board Member
At its Annual General Meeting in Dublin, Charles Carvill, Chairman of Kenmare Resources plc, told shareholders that the ramp-up to full production has been progressing according to forecast with record production in May. The increased production has been facilitated by progress with the project to remove certain limitations in the plant and equipment at Moma in Mozambique. This project, called the Performance Improvement Project (PIP), is now 90% complete and will be fully completed in July and August.
Production in May was 40,000 tonnes of ilmenite and 2,300 tonnes of zircon. This level of production means that the company has more than crossed the cash operating cost breakeven point. As a consequence, the company will no longer be capitalising operating costs and, from 1 July 2009, these costs will be reflected in the Income Statement.
Chief Operations Officer of Kenmare, Jacob Deysel was co-opted on to the Board of Directors of the company. Jacob was appointed COO in February 2009 and is responsible for completing the ramp-up to full production at Kenmare’s Moma Titanium Mine. He joined from Richards Bay Minerals, the world's largest single producer of titanium minerals. Jacob holds a BSc in Mine Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration, both from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He has worked in the titanium feedstock industry since 2003. Previously he worked with Gold Fields Ltd at Driefontein Mine where he was ultimately Operations Manager for a mining operation of seven shafts and 12,000 employees producing 200,000 tonnes of ore per month. At Richards Bay Minerals, Jacob has had responsibility for the mine's five plants in addition to geology, mine planning and maintenance.
Charles Carvill said: "We are delighted to welcome Jacob to the Board. In the short time he has been with the Company he has already made a huge impact on our operations. Achieving cash operating cost breakeven is an important point on the ramp-up process of this mine and represents a significant point in our development”.
ENDS