RNS Number:4875X
Kenmare Resources PLC
08 April 2004


        Kenmare Resources plc ("Kenmare" or "the Company") Announcement


                      Kenmare Signs Construction Contract
                           with Multiplex/Bateman JV


Thursday 8th April, 2004


Kenmare Resources plc has signed a Fixed Price Contract to build the Moma
Titanium Minerals Mine in Mozambique with a Joint Venture (JV), formed for this
project, between Multiplex Ltd (Multiplex) and Bateman BV (Bateman). Multiplex
is a large contracting group based in Australia with operations stretching
around the globe. Multiplex specialises in large complex construction projects.
Bateman is an international engineering group with specific mineral sands
experience and experience of working in Mozambique.


The contract is established on a base price of US$220 million with provisions
for cost overruns up to US$240 million at which point it becomes totally fixed.
Between $220 and $240 million the JV shoulders a progressively greater
proportion of the costs. Hence there is a great incentive for it to ensure
overruns above US$220 million are minimal. From commencement of the work
programme under the contract it will take two years to complete the construction
of the Moma project.


Multiplex Ltd is part of the highly successful Multiplex Group, which has been
active in the contracting industry for over 30 years. It was recently floated on
the Australian Stock Exchange and the group has a market cap of circa A$1.8
billion. Recent projects undertaken by Multiplex include an undersea pipeline
for transportation of gas from Indonesia to Australia and the Wembley Stadium.
Bateman is an engineering group, which operates on five continents. It is
particularly active in Africa and the CIS. Bateman worked on the recently
developed Hillendale minerals sands mine in South Africa.


The contract is subject to a number of conditions precedent before it becomes
effective, all of which are due to be satisfied shortly. The most significant of
the conditions precedent is the making available of debt financing to the Moma
project, which is itself conditional on the availability of an equity financing
component. A debt funding package has been negotiated with a lender group
comprising the European Investment Bank (EIB), The African Development Bank
(ADB), FMO (a Dutch development finance institution), KfW (a German development
finance institution) and ABSA (a South African Commercial Bank) lending under an
ECIC (Export Credit Insurance Agency of South Africa) export guarantee. The EIB,
and the ADB have received board approvals for their loans to the project. The
remaining lenders required the signing of the construction contract before they
could take it to their boards. They are expected to do so in the coming weeks.
Political risk guarantees are being provided to the project by MIGA, an arm of
the World Bank, and are expecting to be supplemented by Hermes, an arm of the
German Government.


The financial plan for the Moma project envisages revenue generation of
approximately US$85 million per annum over a twenty year period with operating
costs of circa US$23 million per annum. Sufficient mineral resources have been
identified at Moma to more than double the mine life. The project has a
non-leveraged Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 23%. Sales contracts covering
more than 50% of the annual revenues from Moma for the first five years of
production are in place. Theseforward sales cover the lenders' marketing
requirements before first disbursement of loan finance.


Kenmare's Chairman, Charles Carvill, said, "The signing of this contract is the
culmination of a lot of work. It has taken a huge amount of effortfrom everyone
involved and would not have happened without consistent help and support from
the Mozambican Government. The product market is looking very positive and we
are looking forward to proceeding to the construction phase of the project and
moving towards shipping our first product."




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: +44 207 936 9095
Mob: + 44 (0)781 215 9885

Murray Consultants
Tom Byrne     Tel: + 353 1 498 0339


                          www.kenmareresources.com


                      This information is provided by RNS
           The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

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