LONDON (Reuters) - Titanium Resources Group said investors were less concerned than a few years ago about investing money in Sierra Leone, after the mining firm moved to issue new shares to boost output in the West African country.

The company said on Monday it conditionally placed 151 million shares to raise about $25 million to increase production and processing capacity at its Sierra Rutile mine.

But chief executive John Sisay told Reuters the group's production of rutile -- mainly used to make the titanium dioxide pigment in paints, paper, plastics and pharmaceuticals -- will be lower than anticipated this year.

"In this fundraising there wasn't so much concern about country risks as there was before. It wasn't such a huge deal as it was three-four years ago," Sisay said.

Sierra Leone emerged from a decade of civil war in 2002 and has stepped up efforts to combat corruption.

"I don't think there are any major issues left over from the civil war that threaten stability," said Sisay.

At 1213 GMT, Titanium Resources shares were down 12.2 percent at 10.525 pence, just above the 10 pence at which the company will place the new stock, which represented a 22.5 percent discount to Friday's closing price.

Sisay said new funds accounted for about 65 percent of the placing.

The company expects to produce 65,000 tonnes in 2009, down from the 75,000 tonnes previously forecast, partly due to lower grades. Still, it anticipates breaking even this year and moving to a cash profit next year, Sisay said.

PLACING PROCEEDS

About $20 million of the placing's proceeds will be used to construct D3, a third dredge which the company estimates will add 30,000 tonnes a year of rutile production in its first full year of operation in 2011.

D3, which has a capacity of around 40,000 tonnes, is anticipated to add a further 4,000-6,000 tonnes in 2012.

The AIM-listed company scaled down operations after dredge D2 capsized in 2008. It has recovered about $3.5 million of a $40 million claim from one of its insurers and is going to mediation in January to try to get the remaining amount.

It will consider what action to take with D2, which was capable of producing about 100,000 tonnes a year, once the issue is resolved.

The group has sold its 2009 and 2010 production in advance and is negotiating prices for 2010 which it hopes will show a 5-8 percent improvement on 2009.

Prices for rutile, which requires less processing that other titanium dioxide ingredients such as ilmenite, have been steady this year compared with 2008.

The company has just broken into the Chinese market, where it expects demand to continue to grow, and has seen rising demand for industrial grade material used by the welding market.

Source: http://af.reuters.com/article/idAFJOE5AF0IZ20091116?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true