Australia's Base Resources Ltd said on Monday it expected the first shipment of products from its Kenyan titanium mining project by mid-2013.

The project near the east Africa nation's port city of Mombasa is scheduled to begin in September after lengthy delays due to demonstrations by environmental groups, disputes with farmers over land compensation and talks with the government.

Base Resources expects the project's annual production of titanium ores to include 330,000 tonnes of ilmenite, or about 10 percent of the world's supply, and 80,000 tonnes of rutile, or 14 percent of global output. It also expects 40,000 tonnes of zircon, another type of mineral.

In a quarterly update, Base Resources said it had already started negotiating sale contracts for products from the titanium mining project.

"Base is working towards having key off-take arrangements concluded and development funding in place by the end of the September quarter of 2011, which would see the Kwale Project in production in mid-2013," it said.

"There is strong interest from parties seeking to enter into arrangements to purchase ilmenite, rutile and zircon production from the Kwale Project and negotiations on product sales contracts with various counterparties are well advanced," the company said.

Titanium is an important pigment for industrial, domestic and artistic applications. Titanium is a choice material for joint replacement, tooth implants and body piercing.

In May, the Australian firm increased its ore reserve estimates for the Kenyan project by 20 percent after a feasibility study. The miner said it now projects 140.6 million tonnes of viable ore reserves at Kwale.

The miner said it had made good progress in securing formal credit approvals for a $170 million syndicated project finance facility.