intractable
- 20 Jun 2004 11:22
From the FT on the 19th June
http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=040619001094&query=kenmare&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form
COMPANIES UK & IRELAND: Kenmare negotiates $269m loan
By John Murray Brown
Financial Times; Jun 19, 2004
One of the largest debt financings for an independent mining company was announced yesterday when Kenmare Resources agreed a $269m (146.5m) facility to develop the Moma titanium mine in Mozambique.
Drawdown of the debt is contingent on the Irish company raising equity of $79m, lifting the value of the project to $345m.
The company already has commitments of $55m from a number of large investment funds.
Documents will be posted to shareholders on Monday for an open offer to raise up to $42m.
A banker at NM Rothschild, lead advisers on the financing, said the debt package represented three times Kenmare's market capitalisation of $90m.
"I do not think there have been any listed mining companies who have done that," he said.
Among the lenders, the African Development Bank is lending $40m and the European Investment Bank $15m in senior debt and a $40m subordinated loan, reflecting the vital economic benefits to what is the poorest region of one of Africa's poorest countries.
Martin Curwen, of the EIB, said this was the first deal signed under the 2000 Cotonou agreement between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
He said EIB's presence would "provide comfort" to other lenders. "It is part of our mandate to support projects where the funding would not have been available from the financial markets," he said at yesterday's signing ceremony, attended by Castigo Langa, Mozambique's minister of mineral resources and energy.
KFW, the German development finance institution, is providing $50m, partly tied to the supply of electrical equipment by Siemens.
The Dutch development agency FMO is lending $15m. The only commercial bank involved is ABSA, the South African bank, which is lending $80m to support the purchase of South African goods and services by the mine.
The mine is expected to be in production in the second half of 2006, with annual output of 600,000 tonnes of ilmenite and other titanium minerals that supplies white pigment used in paint and toothpaste.
The company has already raised 4m to purchase a mineral separation plant in Western Australia, which is being dismantled and shipped to the site.
At full production, the mine will account for about 5 per cent of world supply. About two-thirds of world production is controlled by RTZ and Iluka, an Australian company spun out of the old Rennison Goldfields.
FT Comment
* There have been similar financings in the minerals sector but never where the borrowing is three times the borrower's market valuation. The Lihir gold project in Papua New Guinea raised $300m in 1995 but lenders had the comfort that Rio Tinto Zinc owned about 40 per cent of the company. Kenmare's project is 100 per cent-owned by Kenmare, a company that has no cash flow and would have reported a small loss of $40,000 last year but for interest on its bank deposits. This project clearly could transform its fortunes. There are offtake agreements in place for more than half the first five years' production with Dupont and Mitsui. Prices for mineral sands tend to be more stable than base metals, which behave more like a commodity dependent on capital goods demand. The current market cap is little more than the value of a year's production from the mine. An upgrade seems inevitable. Canaccord, the company's broker, has a current price target of 35p. This compares with a close of 17p, down 2p yesterday.
Copyright The Financial Times Ltd
One2Watch
- 12 Jul 2006 12:37
- 593 of 1136
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20060712120500H3271.html
12 July, 2006
At its AGM today Kenmare reported good progress on the development of
its Moma Titanium Minerals Mine. The project is now 88% complete and
on schedule for completion by the contractor before the end of the
year. Various elements of the overall project will be completed
before this time.
Kenmare also reported that the full production management team for
the mine has now been recruited and is working on commissioning and
ramp up programmes. The hiring and training of non-management workers
is on-going with the objective of having a full complement of staff
on board for taking over various elements of the project as they are
released by the contractor.
While the core business of Kenmare will remain titanium minerals, the
recruitment of this new project management group has allowed Kenmare
to redeploy some of its exploration team. Given Kenmare's experience,
logistical capacity and standing in Mozambique, the Directors
consider further exploration in Mozambique is a strategic fit for the
Company. Hence, Kenmare is pleased to announce that it has been
granted three uranium exploration licences covering approximately
750km2 in the Tete Province of western Mozambique. The licences which
lie in the Zambezi Valley, cover an area underlain by Karoo
sandstones and contain known occurrences of uranium. The licences
were signed by Minister Esperanca Bias on July 11. An exploration
programme will commence shortly.
For more information:
Kenmare Resources plc
Michael Carvill, Managing Director
Tel: + 353 1 671 0411
Mob: + 353 87 674 0110
Conduit PR Ltd
Leesa Peters
Tel: + 44 207 429 6600
Mob: + 44 781 215 9885
Murray Consultants Ltd
Elizabeth Headon
Tel: + 353 1 498 0300
Mob: + 353 87 989 7234
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boxerdog
- 12 Jul 2006 12:50
- 594 of 1136
It will be interesting to observe what value to the SP.The news of the exploration licence brings.I was unaware of its application.
robertalexander
- 18 Jul 2006 07:23
- 595 of 1136
why the big sp rise this am pre trading up 5p.? was ths due to late trades going through from y/day?
or is it just a blip on my money program[this medium i hasten to add]
Alex
grot
- 18 Jul 2006 13:06
- 596 of 1136
July edition of the company newsletter now on website,
'The construction phase of the project is approaching its conclusion and operations are soon to start'
http://www.kenmareresources.com/investors/newsletter.asp
likewise the 2006 presentation
http://www.kenmareresources.com/investors/presentations.asp
stockdog
- 19 Jul 2006 07:56
- 597 of 1136
fliper
- 10 Aug 2006 14:41
- 598 of 1136
Any news about the mine at moma ?
steveo
- 14 Aug 2006 19:51
- 599 of 1136
obviously not!!!
fliper
- 15 Aug 2006 12:48
- 600 of 1136
I think we will see a quick 25% rise in the next 3 weeks .
boxerdog
- 15 Aug 2006 13:30
- 601 of 1136
Your theory based on what flipper?. 25%! more like 2.5% until any relevant breaking news is issued.IMO.
fliper
- 15 Aug 2006 14:36
- 602 of 1136
25% in 3 weeks time , based on a 40p share going to 50p .
ramu
- 15 Aug 2006 15:01
- 603 of 1136
Fliper, why do you think so? Thks.
steveo
- 15 Aug 2006 16:50
- 604 of 1136
there are alot of fund managers holding this, redmayne are recommending it, will go up but not as opptomistic as flipper.
boxerdog
- 15 Aug 2006 17:50
- 605 of 1136
I've held these now from 20p,always going to be until production.Try ADVFN. BB.Some very knowledgeable investors on there who've done their home work on this and don't mind sharing.
BD.
HARRYCAT
- 14 Sep 2006 16:14
- 606 of 1136
In july the MOMA mine was 88% complete.
Anyone know how far off completion we are now?
I realise that financing has been spread over the next 20 years, so a big rise in the sp is not on the cards, but full production should at least raise the profitability of KMR particularly as they don't have to share profits with other partners.
The Gull
- 14 Sep 2006 23:05
- 607 of 1136
Yes but dont forget the interest rates & the US dollar strength & how these factors effect the bottom line, also half of what also half of what is produced will be sold at a heavy discount to current prices 40% less & the energy costs have that influence production have gone up by 80%.
All in all though there should be a modest rise in share price by Feb next year (6 months time).
Happy holding
Gull
LDettori
- 15 Sep 2006 12:23
- 608 of 1136
I think that the value the Uranium will bring to KMR will at least equal the value of the mineral sands. Uranium is BIG BIG business and the results of the initial exploratory work may come with the interims. If initial exploration results are good it could add 10p to the SP immediately.
HARRYCAT
- 15 Sep 2006 12:29
- 609 of 1136
Thanks for the upbeat post Frankie. Am still holding KMR.
I suppose a little nudge in the right direction for the next Godolphin winner is out of the question???
LDettori
- 15 Sep 2006 13:45
- 610 of 1136
Uranium catches on with niche-savvy investors
Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:45 PM BST
By Nick Trevethan
LONDON (Reuters) - Uranium could be the next big thing for investors searching for high returns in niche markets, with growing interest in nuclear power fueling the boom.
A number of funds have already moved into the physical uranium market including Canadian-listed Uranium Participation Corp and Nufcor International, a joint-venture between AngloGold Ashanti Limited and FirstRand Limited which manages Nufcor Uranium.
"I think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg of financial investors entering the physical uranium market," said Mitchell Dong, chief investment officer of Solios Asset Management Inc. It operates several funds and pools of private capital investing in energy assets, including uranium.
"We think we will see a move from a purely physical market to a blended physical and financial market, as we see in the power markets in the Nordic countries and the United States."
Spot uranium prices have nearly doubled over the last 12 months to $52 per pound, according to the website of Ux Consulting (UxC), a leading publisher of uranium prices and price forecasts.
Uranium demand from the world's 440 nuclear reactors runs at around 80,000 tonnes per year, while mine production is around 50,000 tonnes.
The shortfall made up from finite stocks of highly enriched weapons-grade material from nuclear warheads that is downblended for use in commercial reactors.
Analysts said increasingly sophisticated investors would want to cash in on rising prices.
We are seeing a requirement for more sophisticated, more active investment products. It is no longer simply a question of putting money into an index fund and coming back in five years," UBS analyst Robin Bhar said.
"This more active approach will require a myriad of new imvestment products such as structured notes and niche markets like uranium."
MORE ACTIVITY IN URANIUM
Recently, ETF Securities announced plans to launch a series of products that would allow investors to gain exposure to commodity price movements by tracking indices.
"We could see more speculative activity in uranium that doesn't rely on holding physical material through exchange traded-notes (ETNs) -- assets that are based on benchmark prices rather than a store of physical material," Bhar said.
In addition to the ETFs, around half a dozen private hedge funds hold physical uranium.
"Five years ago over 80 percent of spot market volume was purchased by utilities. So far this year under 20 percent has been purchased by end users," a European uranium analyst said.
Andrew Ferguson, manager of Geiger Counter Limited, a closed-end uranium mining and exploration fund with 13 million pounds under management, said the market was too new to cope with exchange traded notes.
"There are people out there looking at paper-based assets, but the market is a bit too new for those."
"Some clever person will come up with something along those lines. We are happy investing uranium miners and assets like Nufcor. Physical uranium is also an option, but we see the greatest upside with producers and explorers," he said.
Gary Stoker marketing manager Nufcor International Ltd said: "Certainly uranium markets have been very interesting for investors over the last three or four years and it does not appears as if that interest is abating."
"Uranium until recently saw no investor interest and even now 90 to 95 percent of the market is producer to end-user business, but investors are starting to get into the market"
He said the financial community was investing anticipating substantial growth.
"Various numbers are bandied around. The one thing that is certain is that the economics of a nuclear power station are fairly insensitive to the price of uranium.
"Even if prices double from here, it won't significantly affect the competitiveness of nuclear power."
That bullish view was shared by investors in Nufcor's fund, which holds over 1,000 tonnes of uranium and trades at around 30 percent above its net asset value.
boxerdog
- 15 Sep 2006 13:57
- 611 of 1136
Frankie no disrespect, but are you on the correct thread.All this talk of uranium is premature to say the least.Surely we should stick to what resorces kmr are to produce. Anthing else is a futuristic bonus at this time.Forgive my ignorance if i've missed any very,very recent announcements!
aldwickk
- 15 Sep 2006 14:12
- 612 of 1136
Just someone spamming, Boxer.