Toronto-listed Tiomin says it is committed to implementing the much-delayed Kwale heavy mineral sands project in Kenya and is optimistic that production will start in mid-2009.

The Kwale deposit, which is wholly owned by Tiomin, contains 116,9-million tons of proven and probable reserves, and the 11-year operating life of the envisaged mine will bring significant benefits to the coastal region of Kenya, including 350 direct permanent jobs. Over 1 000 companies will supply goods and services to the project, and the total annual expenditure will be about two-billion Kenyan shillings.

Explaining why the project has been delayed, project coordinator and investor relations officer Joyce Misoi says, “The government of Kenya has still not completed various key bureaucratic steps that would be required by international lenders before they lend money to the project.

[But] we are working with the government of Kenya to address these pending issues.”

Last year, Tiomin raised $46-million for the project.

However, the cost of the project went up owing to the delay in its implemention and, because Tiomin could not meet the lenders’ conditions, there was a mutual agreement with the lenders that Tiomin should address the pending issues with the government of Kenya before lending could resume.

“We, therefore, reduced staff in February this year, halted the expensive monthly payments to Ausenco and sought a strategic partner in China’s Jinchuan Group, which is currently conducting further due diligence with regard to Kwale,” says Misoi.

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