Kodal Minerals reported significant progress at its Bougouni lithium project in southern Mali, with construction nearly complete and commercial production imminent.
Bougouni is set to become Mali’s second operational lithium mine in just two months, following Ganfeng Lithium’s first spodumene production at the Goulamina project in December.
Kodal noted the mine’s Dense Media Separation (DMS) processing plant has already produced more than 11,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate. Operations continue to ramp up. In the final week of March alone, the plant processed 13,400 tonnes of ore, yielding 1,920 tonnes of concentrate with a lithium oxide grade of 5.63%.
The path to full-scale production has been slowed by delays in transferring the mining licence from Future Minerals SARL to Les Mines de Lithium de Bougouni SA (LMLB).
LMLB is 65% owned by Kodal Mining UK (KMUK), a joint venture between Kodal Minerals (49%) and China’s Hainan Group (51%). The remaining 35% is held by the Malian government.
The path to full-scale production has been slowed by delays in transferring the mining licence to a JV in which the Malian government has 35% stake.
Kodal confirmed that the necessary updates to LMLB’s corporate structure have been approved by Mali’s mining and finance ministries. The final step—presidential sign-off by Assimi Goïta—remains pending.
In light of the delays, Kodal has asked for an extension on a $7.5 million payment to the Malian state, originally due under a memorandum of understanding signed on Nov. 1, 2024. The government has acknowledged the request, with a formal response expected.
Chief executive officer Bernard Aylward said the company remains confident in meeting its production target of 11,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per month.
“Our team has built a significant stockpile of spodumene concentrate, ready for transport and sale, equivalent to a full month of production,” Aylward said. “We’re continuing to increase that stockpile, which gives us confidence in hitting our output goals.”
Bougouni is located 170 km south of Mali’s capital, Bamako, in a region home to several active mines, including Hummingbird Resources’ Yanfolila gold mine and B2Gold’s Fekola operation.
