Key Points
- Kodal Minerals’ Bougouni project will produce Mali’s first lithium.
- Crushing circuits are being commissioned for 2025 production start.
- Ngoualana deposit delivers steady ore with high lithium oxide grade.
Following the mine developer’s progress this week in commissioning activities, Kodal Minerals confirmed on Friday that its Bougouni lithium project in southern Mali is still on track to produce in the first quarter of 2025.
Bougouni project set to deliver Mali’s first lithium production
Following a quick and successful test on waste rock, Kodal has begun commissioning the first of two crushing circuits at the Stage 1 dense media separation (DMS) processing plant.
Electrical cabling in the field, motor terminations, and piping installations are now the main focus of installation work because, in the words of Kodal CEO Bernard Aylward, these tasks are “critical to starting full commissioning of the plant.”
According to Mining.com, earlier this week, the site team used waste material to perform a brief trial run of one of the two crushing modules. “It is very encouraging to see the first pre-commissioning activities beginning in December 2024, even though the drives were tested using temporary power,” Aylward stated in a news release.
Ahead of plant commissioning and future production needs, open pit mining operations at the Ngoualana deposit, the primary source of ore for the Stage 1 DMS plant, are still proceeding. With more than 150,000 tonnes of ore sitting on the ROM (run of mine) pad and an average grade of 1.17% lithium oxide, Kodal said its mining contractor is now operating the mine in a steady state.
Before updating the JORC mineral resource estimate, the company is working on an in-fill and extension drill program for the Boumou deposit, which will be a part of the second-stage operations.
Mining operations at Ngoualana progress with steady ore output
Once operational, the Bougouni project will be Mali’s first lithium mine, producing an estimated 125,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate annually in its initial phase. Only material from the Ngoualana deposit, processed using dense media separation techniques, will be used in production during this first four-year period.
In the second stage, ore from the Boumou and Sogola-Baoulé deposits will be added to increase production to 230,000 tonnes, which will then be processed at a flotation plant downstream. The second stage will last for 12 years based on the mineral resources available today.
Each stage of the project is expected to cost between US$65 million and US$175 million, with Stage 1 being fully funded by Kodal’s Chinese partner Hainan Mining at this time. Stage 2 is expected to be funded by cash flow from the Stage 1 operation.
The joint venture between Kodal and Hainan currently holds 65% of the Bougouni project, with the Mali government owning the other 35%.
