Poor weather and a delay in securing some vessels saw shipments of ore from Kenmare's Moma mine in Mozambique falling by a third in the first quarter to 231,500 tonnes.
And the explorer faces further transport issues next month when one of its two vessels goes into dry dock for maintenance for up to 10 weeks. The company says it is confident of making up any shortfall later in the year.
Mining operations were also impacted by weather, with heavy mineral concentrate production up by a less than expected 6 per cent. However, the impact was not as bad as disruption the quarter a year ago.
The higher volumes of excavated ore were partially offset by a 3 per cent decrease in ore grades to under 4.5 per cent, Kenmare said. It has previously said that it expects ore grades to stabilise around 4.2 per cent this year.
Production of ilmenite, Kenmare’s primary product, decreased by 7 per cent to 256,800 tonnes. Zircon production was 3 per cent down at 12,900 tonnes.
