Kinetic Development (01277) Announces Rutile Project Officially Begins Production on October 1, 2026

Kinetic Development (01277) has issued an announcement that the rutile project officially commenced production on October 1, 2026.

The rutile project is located in Rotifunk, Moyamba District, Sierra Leone. The mining license held by Minenet covers an area of approximately 117 square kilometers. According to information provided by Minenet, the rutile project area contains reserves of approximately 4.532 million tonnes. The Group holds exclusive rights for exploration, mining, processing, and sales within the designated 50-square-kilometer area of the license.

The first production line of Phase One has completed construction and commissioning and officially commenced production on October 1, 2026. The second production line is expected to complete construction in mid-October 2026, and the third production line is expected to complete construction in early November 2026. Phase One comprises three production lines with a combined annual processing capacity of approximately 6 million tonnes of raw ore and an annual production capacity of approximately 220,000 tonnes of heavy mineral sands (based on the latest grade and recovery rates). Total output for 2026 is expected to reach approximately 26,000 tonnes.

Phase Two will add two additional production lines within 12 months, subject to stable operations in Phase One and confirmation of sufficient resources. Upon reaching a total of five production lines and achieving full production, the combined annual processing capacity of raw ore will reach approximately 11 million tonnes, with an annual production capacity of approximately 330,000 to 360,000 tonnes of heavy mineral sands. All mineral products will be distributed at a ratio of 80% to Metal Mining and 20% to Minenet, with each party responsible for its own sales.

The heavy mineral sands produced by the rutile project are rich in valuable minerals including rutile, titanium concentrate, and zircon sand. Customers span the midstream and downstream of the industry chain, including zirconium-titanium processing plants, chlorination-process titanium dioxide producers, titanium sponge manufacturers, titanium alloy producers, high-end welding consumable makers, and zirconium product processing enterprises. Sales channels to the Chinese market have already been established, with customer resources covering regions including Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Liaoning. The sales approach prioritizes supplying zirconium-titanium processing plants, with a gradual expansion toward end-user manufacturers.

Pricing for rutile project products references price information for rutile, titanium concentrate, and zircon sand from industry think tanks, adopting a market-oriented grade-linked pricing mechanism. Final selling prices are determined by combining factors including grade, impurity indicators, order size, and payment method.

The heavy mineral sands from the rutile project are of high quality, containing 30% to 45% rutile (with titanium dioxide content of 95%), making them a core raw material for producing titanium dioxide and aerospace-grade titanium sponge, and representing a domestically scarce mineral resource. On the production side, following the commissioning of the three production lines in Phase One, the rutile project is expected to achieve its designed processing capacity of 220,000 tonnes of heavy mineral sands by December 2026. After Phase One achieves stable operations, the Group will proceed with the construction and commissioning of two additional production lines in Phase Two.

On the sales side, heavy mineral sand products from the rutile project will initially target the Chinese market as the primary sales direction. In the future, the Company will promote its products globally based on market conditions, continuously enriching its customer structure and further enhancing the international competitiveness and sales scale of its products.

The official commencement of production at the rutile project marks a further diversification of the Group's overseas mining portfolio, with overseas high-quality production capacity entering a new cycle of accelerated value realization. In the future, the Group will fully leverage its mature mining operation experience by optimizing mining and ore processing plans and strengthening full-process cost control. Once the rutile project reaches full production, it is expected to become a new source of revenue growth for the Group.