News

March 13, 2008

Not Quite Ready For St Patrick’s: Kenmare’s Michael Carvill Will Have To Wait Before He Can Sit Down And Enjoy A Pint Of The Black Stuff

By Our Man in the City

Twenty-one years after acquiring the Moma titanium minerals deposit in Mozambique, Kenmare still hasn't got the project working to plan. Having gritted its teeth over delays to construction in 2006 because of late equipment arrival, celebrations last year after production eventually commenced were cut short by broken motors and power outages. Managing director Michael Carvill is clearly tired and frustrated by the problems, not to mention having to drop tools to explain the situation to analysts and investors in person. But in true Irish spirit, he is soldiering on and is confident of resolving most of the technical issues by the end of next week - only a few days late for St. Patrick's Day, but no doubt still cause enough for a pint of the black stuff.

Five shipments of ilmenite have been made since Moma started production in late 2007. It was all going to plan until the dredge motors broke. As an interim measure, Kenmare adapted its slurry motors and restarted operations. The two engineering contractors on Moma, Multiplex and Bateman, took the original parts away to be repaired, only for the motors to fail again upon reinstallation. “We're on a fixed-price contract with these companies. While this model keeps costs down during the mine...