Kenmare defers repayment of $11m

QUOTED MINING company Kenmare has deferred the repayment of $11 million (€8.5 million) due to its lenders yesterday.

Following a review of operations last November, Kenmare said production from its titanium mine in Mozambique, Africa, would not reach full capacity until the second half of this year.

As a result, the company said it was entering talks with its bankers to reschedule repayments of instalments due on senior debt this year.

In a statement yesterday, Kenmare said it had concluded arrangements with lenders to the titanium mine under which a repayment due yesterday would be deferred over the life of the loan.

“The instalment, in the amount of $11.3 million, will instead be payable over the remaining life of the senior loans,” the statement said.

It added that Kenmare was continuing talks with its lenders regarding other matters, including the deferral of an instalment due next August.

Kenmare also announced yesterday that it had appointed Jacob Deysel as chief operations officer and James White as general manager of the titanium mine.

Mr Deysel joins the company from another titanium producer, Richards Bay Minerals in South Africa. Mr White worked for Iluka Resources in western Australia, where he was operations manager for southwest operations for the past five years.