Maputo, April 13, 2026 (Lusa) - The Moma titanium mine in Nampula, northern Mozambique, produced over 1 million tonnes of ore in 2025, down 10% from 2024, the mining company Kenmare told markets.
In its annual report sent to investors, which Lusa saw, Kenmare reported total production of 1,004,000 tonnes. This includes 842,300 tonnes of ilmenite (the main titanium ore), 50,000 tonnes of zircon and 8,600 tonnes of rutile.
Total exports from the Moma mine fell 13% year over year to 947,900 tonnes. Thirty-eight ships guaranteed the operation through the mine's dedicated port. This resulted in total revenue of $328.6 million (€280 million), a 21% year-on-year drop, while total investment reached $215 million (€183 million).
Kenmare said it was investing in a new industrial unit in Nataka to ensure decades of local production, while it expects to export 1.1 million tonnes in 2026, up 15% from 2025.
Mozambique’s government denied on 13 March any dispute over the Moma concession, saying contract renegotiations were underway.
"Kenmare is presenting its positions, fears, and limitations. The government is doing exactly the same to bring the positions closer together, ensuring that natural resource exploration benefits both parties.
This is all that is under discussion," government spokesperson Inocêncio Impissa told journalists.
On 9 March, Kenmare said Mozambique’s tax authority (AT) was unilaterally imposing new conditions, saying it might seek international arbitration.
Impissa said Kenmare had a period to set up in the country, benefiting from "different facilities" to "consolidate its business", including its own tax and customs regime.
"We need to rethink and renegotiate some terms to allow the business to continue while the country gains more," he said. He acknowledged that the government decided to establish a new regime after the concession ended in 2024.
"The fiscal protection regime for the entity was removed. This means the company may have to pay all the taxes it previously did not, such as on imported goods," he said.
He added that this allows for a better share of the gains, which were paid in royalties (payments for the right to use land or resources) to Mozambique at a rate of about 1.5%.
In a previous note to investors, Kenmare director Tom Hickey said the operation's Implementation Agreement (AI), a legal contract defining operational terms, which expired in 2024, "is fundamental to Moma’s long-term success." He said the AT is trying to increase royalty collection without a new AI while the company operates the mine under a temporary regime.
Hickey said the proposal presented to the government in April 2025 for the new AI "included several concessions".
He said this reflected a "commitment to an equitable distribution of value from Moma and to substantial continuous investment" in operations and local communities over 40 years.
"We would be disappointed to have to resort to arbitration to enforce our contractual rights, but we may be forced to do so if we cannot reach a timely agreement," he said.
Kenmare said it proposed increasing royalty rates from 1% to 2.5%, applying withholding tax (tax deducted from payments to non-residents) on payments to foreign service providers, and making additional community investments in exchange for a 20-year extension.
The revised April 2025 proposal included a phased increase in the royalty rate from 2.5% in 2025 to 3.5% over 20 years. However, the company said a cabinet meeting in July 2025 adopted an internal resolution with renewal terms that "were not agreed" and "differ significantly from Kenmare’s proposal", calling them "economically and operationally damaging."
PVJ/LYT // ADB.
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