London — The Irish company Kenmare Resources, which mines ilmenite, rutile and zircon from the heavy mineral sands in the northern Mozambican district of Moma, reported on Wednesday that its revenue for 2012 was forty per cent higher than in 2011.

Kenmare’s revenue for 2012 was 234.5 million US dollars, up from 167.5 million dollars in 2011.

The increased revenues were mainly due to increased ilmenite prices, which on average were 98 per cent higher than in 2011, and were 17 per cent higher in the second half of 2012 than in the first half.

The company failed to meet its 2012 production target of 630,000 tonnes of ilmenite and 50,000 tonnes of zircon. During the year it produced 574,400 tonnes of ilmenite and 46,900 tonnes of zircon.

This was due to disruptions in the electricity supply and geotechnical difficulties with the dredge pond as it moves from a low-lying area to a dunal plateau.

However, the company sees these as temporary difficulties, with the upgrade in the electricity supply in Nampula province being ultimately beneficial.

Furthermore, once operations are transferred to the dunal plateau the company will mine there for the next twelve years. The company states that this transition will be “substantially completed by the end of the first quarter of 2013”.