Kodal Minerals lithium output at the Bougouni project in Mali reached 27,234 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate in the third quarter, and the project’s cash flow was enough to repay a loan from Hainan Mining.
The AIM listed company said Tuesday that the concentrate averaged 5.29% lithium oxide, taking output for the first nine months of 2026 to 80,429 tonnes.
What the quarterly numbers show
The plant processed 314,945 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.01% lithium oxide, and recovered 55.7% of the lithium into concentrate. Year to date, recovery has averaged 57.7%.
Unit costs were about $600 a tonne in the quarter. The company said wet season weather and equipment problems delayed some mining, and it has added resources to keep production on track.
Guidance, exports and debt
Kodal kept its 2026 production guidance at 105,000 to 115,000 tonnes, at a unit cost of $600 to $610 a tonne. To reach that range, the project needs between about 24,600 and 34,600 tonnes in the final quarter, a range that includes this quarter’s output.
Four completed shipments have carried 93,322 tonnes out of Mali via the port of San Pedro in Côte d’Ivoire and generated about $142.8 million in revenue. The latest shipment brought in $47 million, and a fifth shipment left in September.
Cash from the project allowed the operating company to repay and terminate the Hainan loan in full, leaving the venture debt free. Kodal has also secured an export permit for another 125,000 tonnes of concentrate.
Chief Executive Bernard Aylward said the quarter showed “continued operational and commercial momentum,” helped by strong demand and higher spodumene prices.
Who owns Bougouni and what comes next
The mine is run by Les Mines de Lithium de Bougouni, which is 65% owned by Kodal Mining UK and 35% by the Malian state. Kodal Mining UK is held jointly with Hainan Mining, which gives Kodal Minerals an economic interest of about 32% in the project.
The current plant, which uses dense media separation, targets more than 125,000 tonnes a year. A proposed second stage using flotation would lift capacity toward 230,000 tonnes a year.
Work on that expansion, including metallurgical tests, an updated environmental and social impact assessment and a feasibility study, is advancing on schedule. No final investment decision was announced in the update.
Bougouni began producing concentrate in February 2025, and Mali’s president opened the project in November 2025. It sits about 180 kilometers south of the capital, Bamako.
Investors will watch three things: whether recovery improves, whether the wet season stops disrupting mining and whether exports keep their pace through San Pedro.
Prices matter too. Kodal says stronger lithium prices drove its cash flow, and that cuts both ways: the same prices that cleared the loan could fall if the market turns.
Kodal has gone from first concentrate to a debt free project venture in under two years. The next real test is whether it can lift output toward 230,000 tonnes without taking on the debt it has just cleared.
