Irish miner Kenmare Resources has reported record production of ilmenite and primary zircon from its Moma mine, in Mozambique. These records applied to both the second quarter (Q2) of this year and for last month. Production during the first half of this year (H1 2014) was also substantially higher than that for the first half of last year (H1 2013).
“Kenmare continued to deliver increased production and remains on track to achieving name plate capacity on a sustainable basis,” noted company MD Michael Carvill in the Q2 2014 ‘Production Report’. “Though product prices remain subdued, we are focusing on the elements within our control to reduce unit costs and conserve cash in this subdued market environment. Unit cost reduction will be driven by further production increases in the second half of the year and complemented by the operational efficiencies we are targeting to reduce costs. We will provide a further update on these initiatives with our half-yearly results in August.”
Total ore excavated in Q2 came to 8 746 100 t, a 16% increase over the figure of 7 543 000 t for the first quarter (Q1) of this year. H1 2014 excavation totalled 16 289 100 t, a 63% increase over the 9 984 300 t of H1 2013.
Q2 production of ilmenite amounted to 234 800 t, an 11% rise over Q1’s 210 800 t.Regarding first semester output, that for H1 2014 – 445 600 t – was 47% higher than H1 2013’s 302 600 t.
Total zircon production in Q2 was 43% higher than in Q1. In terms of numbers, the Q2 figure was 12 600 t and the Q1 8 800 t. For H1 2014, the number was 21 400 t, up 12%, compared with H1 2013’s 19 100 t. However, the company also subdivides its zircon output into primary and secondary production. Q2 primary production was 10 600 t, a rise of 38% over the Q1 figure of 7 700 t. For H1 2014, primary production was 18 300 t, or 56% higher than the 11 700 t of H1 2013. Regarding secondary production, this was 82% higher in Q2 (2 000 t) than in Q1 (1 100 t). However, semester-on-semester it was down 58%, being 3 100 t in H1 2014, compared with 7 400 t in H1 2013.
The final product from Moma is rutile. In Q2, output of this mineral came to 1 700 t, a 55% increase over the 1 100 t of Q1. For H1 2014, production was 2 800 t, which represented a growth of 47% relative to the H1 2013 number of 1 900 t.
In terms of shipments of finished products, these came to 205 100 t in Q2, up 6% on Q1 (193 900 t). For H1 2014, shipments totalled 399 000 t, a 36% increase over the 294 100 t during H1 2013.
During Q2, output during April and May was affected by planned upgrades to the nonmagnetic circuits in the mineral separation plant. These will increase the recovery of zircon and rutile. All the plants at Moma have demonstrated that they can function at their designed capacities. The company is now concentrating on increasing utilisation rates and reaching steady-state production levels. Ilmenite production in June was 84 200 t, while that for zircon came to 5 400 t.
The company also reported that the stability of the power supply to Moma, which is located on the coast of Nampula province, in the north of the country, has improved in recent months. This was expected, because of beneficial seasonal weather changes and national power utility Electricidade de Mocambique (EdM) having started a load- management plan.
Further, a 7.5 MW diesel-powered gener-ating plant for Moma has been delivered and should be installed by the end of this month. After it has been commissioned, this plant will provide backup power to the mine plant should the supply from EdM be interrupted. The gener- ating plant will probably be operated continu- ously during summer (December, January, February) when the EdM supply is very unstable.