Mozambique's Moma Mine Ilmenite Production Increased 12% Year-on-Year in the Third Quarter

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 15, mining company Kenmare Resources released its 2026 third-quarter production report. Its Moma titanium mineral sands mine in northern Mozambique produced 233,600 tonnes of ilmenite in the quarter, up 12% year-on-year and 59% quarter-on-quarter; heavy mineral concentrate production reached 334,100 tonnes, up 12% year-on-year. Due to commissioning issues at the WCP A wet concentrator plant, the company lowered its full-year ilmenite production guidance from approximately 800,000 tonnes to 710,000-750,000 tonnes, while adjusting its full-year mineral product shipments guidance to approximately 1.05 million tonnes.

The Moma mine's third-quarter ore mined reached 10.946 million tonnes, up 22% year-on-year, with an average ore grade of 3.54%, down 12% year-on-year. Heavy mineral concentrate processed in the quarter was 336,800 tonnes, up 19% year-on-year; primary zircon production was 13,000 tonnes, up 6% year-on-year, and rutile production was 2,200 tonnes, up 22% year-on-year. Other concentrates, including zircon-titanium concentrate and other products, reached 44,500 tonnes, up 109% year-on-year, of which approximately 21,000 tonnes came from the reprocessing of historical tailings stockpiles.

WCP A is the largest wet concentrator plant at the Moma mine and is transitioning from the original Namalope mining area to the Nataka mining area. In the third quarter, Kenmare worked with dredging equipment suppliers to adjust the winch brake system and excavation pump configuration, and implemented a temporary software optimization solution. The plant's actual processing rate increased from approximately 2,760 tonnes per hour in the first half to 3,100 tonnes per hour, and equipment utilization rose from 42% to 49%. The company plans to implement a permanent brake system solution on the first dredging unit before the end of 2026 and expects to stably reach the designed processing capacity of 3,500 tonnes per hour in the first half of 2027.

Kenmare is also advancing two small-scale selective mining and processing units, SMO 2 and SMO 3, at the Moma mine, each with a designed processing capacity of 500 tonnes per hour and a total estimated investment of approximately US$13 million. The SMO 2 equipment has arrived at the mine site and is scheduled for commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a budgeted investment of US$10.9 million, of which US$7.6 million has already been spent. SMO 3 is expected to require an investment of US$2.1 million, with construction and commissioning planned for completion in the first half of 2027.

In the third quarter, the company completed a pre-feasibility study for monazite development, proposing to further process the mine's existing mineral sands concentrate into monazite concentrate, with potential annual capacity of up to 4,000 tonnes, while simultaneously increasing ilmenite, zircon and rutile recovery. Kenmare has launched a detailed feasibility study and initiated commercial negotiations with potential offtakers. The detailed feasibility study is expected to take up to one year, and production could begin approximately two years after the project makes a implementation decision.

Third-quarter actual shipments of Moma mineral products were 242,900 tonnes, up 7% year-on-year, but shipping operations were constrained because customer vessels were delayed at other ports and arrived at the mine's port later than scheduled. At the end of September, the mine's finished product inventory increased from 233,500 tonnes at the end of the second quarter to 284,200 tonnes. Kenmare expects 2026 cash operating costs to be at the high end of its guidance range of US$215 million to US$225 million.

Kenmare said that in the third quarter, China's imports of titanium concentrate and domestic mine supply increased; however, the average price of ilmenite actually sold by the company in the quarter rose slightly quarter-on-quarter, mainly related to a higher proportion of high-value product sales. During the same period, zircon supply continued to tighten, driving zircon prices higher, and the company expects zircon prices to improve further in the fourth quarter.