
Tom Hickey
MD: Kenmare Resources
'We are pleased that the government has provided confirmation of our ability to continue to operate under our existing terms during this interim period'
TOM Hickey took over as MD in August last year from Kenmare founder Michael Carvill, who had run the group for nearly 40 years. This time included 20 years of operations in Mozambique, where Kenmare runs the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine, one of the largest in the world. Hickey’s appointment comes at a critical time as Moma is relocating its operations to the nearby Nataka deposit, which will be the source of output for the next few decades. The move is going to cost some $341m and involve major capital projects including the construction of two new higher-capacity dredgers, the construction of a new tailings storage facility, and the upgrading of the Wet Concentrator Plant A.
As of mid-October, all was going to plan, with the project remaining on budget of which 75% was expected to be in place by end-December. What you don’t need in the middle of this kind of investment is regulatory issues: Kenmare is in discussions with the Mozambique government over the renewal of Moma’s implementation agreement. That was supposed to be done and dusted by December 21. However, violent protests in the country following the controversial re-election of President David Chapo, whom the opposition alleges rigged the election, will see the timetable become somewhat more flexible.
Moma is in northern Mozambique but so far its operations have been untouched by the violence, which has resulted in more than 270 deaths. On matters strategic it will be interesting to see if Hickey considers diversifying the company after shareholders, tired of its pedestrian share price, called for it to be put up for sale in March last year.
LIFE OF TOM
Hickey joined Kenmare as financial director in September 2022. He has a BCom and a Diploma in Professional Accounting from University College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Irish Institute of Chartered Accountants. He has had 24 years' experience as a director of various public companies, including eight years as CFO of African- and South American-focused oil and gas producer Tullow Oil. He was also previously the CFO for oil and gas exploration company Petroceltic International.