Kenmare says it will ‘benefit hugely’ from appointment of veteran

KENMARE Resources, a global producer of titanium minerals and zircon, has said it expects to “benefit hugely” from the appointment of a titanium industry veteran to its board of directors.

Clever Fonseca, who has worked in the industry for over 30 years, has joined as an independent nonexecutive director, effective from July 1.

Yesterday, Steven McTiernan, chairman of Kenmare, said that company expects to “benefit hugely” from Mr Fonseca’s industry insights, exposure to diverse mineral sands projects globally, and extensive operations experience.

“These qualities will be invaluable as we consider mine development options and other strategic decisions in the years ahead,” Mr McTiernan said.

Prior to joining the board of Kenmare, Mr Fonseca was responsible for developing Brazil’s only dredge-mined mineral sands operation, was vice president of global supply and mining for Millennium Inorganic Chemicals (now Cristal Global) in the US, and also served as executive director of Mineral Deposits in Melbourne.

Most recently, he was CEO of TiZir, where he was responsible both for the development of the Grand Côte mineral sands mine in Senegal in Africa, and its integration with the TTI smelter at Tyssedal, to form TiZir.

He retired from TiZir in 2012. Mr Fonseca has a BSc in Mining Engineering from Universidade Federal De Pernambuco, and an MBA from Fundacao Getulio Vargas, both in Brazil.

Terry Fitzpatrick will retire from Kenmare’s board on the same day Mr Fonseca starts his new role, but will take up a position as director on the boards of subsidiary operating companies.

Mr McTiernan thanked Mr Fitzpatrick for his contribution to the board of Kenmare Resources.