Overview
Kodal Minerals’ primary focus is the development of its Bougouni Lithium Project in Southern Mali – an emerging lithium province which has already attracted the attention of investors and off-take partners seeking to secure long-term supply of strategic commodities including lithium.
The Company received approval for its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment application in Q4 2019 and a Mining Licence application was lodged in Q1 2020. The Mining Licence was granted in early November 2021 to Kodal’s Mali subsidiary company, Future Minerals SARL, and is valid for an initial 12-year term and renewable in ten-year blocks until all resources mined. The Mining Licence is granted under the 2019 Mining Code and extends over 97.2 square km covering the proposed open-pit mining and processing operation at Bougouni.
The Company delivered an update on the Project Feasibility Study and development status for its Bougouni Lithium Project in June 2022, based on a review of the engineering, process recovery and capital cost for the Project operation and improved financial consideration based primarily on an improved market outlook for the sale of lithium spodumene concentrates.
Since acquiring the Bougouni Project in late-2016, the Company has implemented an accelerated exploration and development programme aimed at advancing the project into production in as short a timeframe as practicable. In February 2019, the Company announced an updated JORC Mineral Resource for the Bougouni Project of 21.3Mt at 1.11% Li2O, with 11.6Mt at 1.13% Li2O in the Indicated category and 9.7Mt at 1.08% Li2O in the Inferred category. This updated Mineral Resource is 23% higher than the original Maiden Mineral Resource released in September 2018, with over 55% of the Resource now in the Indicated category. The Mineral Resource is made up of the three most advanced prospects at Bougouni:
Sogola-Baoulé: 12.2Mt at 1.1% Li2O (18% increase);
Ngoualana: 5.1Mt at 1.2% Li2O (9% increase);
Boumou: 4Mt at 1.02% Li2O (81% increase).
This Mineral Resource, which is comprised of only three of the ten prospects identified to date, places the Bougouni Project in the top 15 projects globally.
A Feasibility Study, announced in January 2020, outlines the potential for a robust mining operation with attractive economic fundamentals, including:
- Minimum 8.5-year mine life;
- Producing on average 220,000 tonnes of 6% spodumene concentrate per annum, at life of mine lithium average metallurgical recovery of 71%, based on laboratory metallurgical recoveries of 75%;
- Total LOM will produce 1.94Mt of concentrate; and
- LOM revenue exceeding USD$1.4bn
- Initial concentrate sale price of $680/t thereafter increasing 2% year-on-year.
- Proposed 2Mtpa processing plant utilising a conventional flotation circuit to maximise spodumene recovery:
- Estimated C1 cash costs of USD$474 per tonne concentrate (USD$520 including royalties and sustaining capital).
- Capital requirement for development estimated to be USD$154M plus contingency:
- Forecast payback period of 0.8 years;
- IRR of 91.2%.
Kodal was granted an Environmental Permit over the flagship Project in November 2019. The original Feasibility Study (“FS”) was completed by Kodal in January 2020, culminating in the granting of a large scale Mining Licence in November 2021 to Kodal’s Mali subsidiary company, Future Minerals SARL. The Mining Licence is valid for an initial 12-year term and renewable in ten-year blocks until all resources are mined.
The Company has a significant lithium footprint in southern Mali which, in addition to its flagship Bougouni Lithium Project, also includes the 200km2 Bougouni West Project and the 109km2 Diendio Project. Collectively, Kodal has a land holding of over 800km2 in Mali, making it the largest lithium developer in West Africa in terms of acreage.
The Company is supported by its strategic investor and off-take partner, Suay Chin International Pte Ltd (‘Suay Chin’), a Singapore registered trading company with extensive connections within the Chinese lithium market.
