Kenmare Resources said it saw a significant increase in mining and production in the first quarter of the year.

The Irish and London listed mining company recently completed an expansion of its Moma titanium minerals mine in Mozambique.

In interim management statement today, the company said the total amount of ore mined in the first quarter rose 81 per cent to 7.5 million tonnes.

Kenmare said it had signed contracts for the rental of an on-site diesel-powered electricity generation plant, expected to be operational in the second half of this year, which will significantly increase “security of power supply”.

In February, Kenmare agreed new repayment terms with its lenders for the financing of the Moma mine.

It had been due to repay around $165 million (€120 million) of deferred subordinated debt by August 1st, 2015, but reached a restructuring arrangement which analysts say should take pressure off the share price.

“With the rescheduling of debt payments completed and the problem of power fluctuation having been mitigated, we look forward to reporting further progress on lowering unit operating costs and ramping up production to nameplate capacity,”managing director Michael Carvill said.

“The first quarter of the year saw a significant increase in mining and production compared to Q1 2013 following the completion of the expansion of Moma in late 2013.

“Q1 has historically been our lowest production quarter due to the issues associated with power supply in the Southern Hemisphere summer months,” he added.