Name of the Project
Bougouni lithium project.

Location
Southern Mali.

Project Owner/s
Gold and lithium miner Kodal Minerals.

Project Description
Bougouni’s mineral resource comprises three advanced prospects – Sogola-Baoulé, Ngoualana and Boumou.

The 2020 feasibility study proposes an openpit contract mining operation, and a conventional milling and flotation processing facility capable of treating two-million tonnes a year of ore, complete with asso¬ciated infrastructure to mine and process about 16-million tonnes of pegmatite ore over an initial 8.5-year mine life.

Production will average 220 000 t/y of 6% spodu¬mene concentrate. Over the life-of-mine the project is expected to produce 1.94-million tonnes of concentrate.

In September 2022, Kodal proposed the development of Bougouni based on the installation of a modular dense-media separation (DMS) plant to process material from the Ngoualana deposit that, owing to its coarse grain properties, delivers high DMS recoveries. Processing material from the Ngoualana deposit will feed one-million tonnes a year of lithium ore to a DMS processing plant using a conventional circuit to maximise spodumene recovery. The DMS option has a mine life of four years.

Future expansion of the project is expected to continue with the construction and commissioning of a downstream flotation plant expected to be supported by using the DMS plant cash flows to exploit the resources at Sogola-Baoulé and Boumou, as well as longer-term exploration prospects.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 91.2%, with a payback of 0.8 years.

The DMS option estimates a net present value, at a 7% discount rate, of $557.83-million and an IRR of 274%, with a payback of two months.

Capital Expenditure
The feasibility study reports capital expenditure (capex) at $154-million, plus contingency.

The DMS option has estimated capital costs of $64.8-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Kodal Minerals has confirmed further mineralised extensions on the Boumou prospect, within the Bougouni lithium project.

The company has determined that Boumou contains high-grade and wide lithium mineralised intersections hosted by spodumene-rich veins, with more assay results pending and diamond core drilling ongoing to test the prospect further.

Some of the highlights from a reverse circulation drilling programme undertaken in April and May include 52 m of lithium oxide grading 1.51% from 175 m, 66 m of lithium oxide grading 1.26% from 72 m and 32 m of lithium oxide grading 1.11% from 93 m.

The ongoing diamond core drilling will provide more samples for future metallurgical testwork and geotechnical logging for openpit optimisation parameters.

Additionally, the diamond drill core will inform the company’s Stage 2 flotation design and optimise the mining schedule with the Boumou and Sogola-Baoulé prospects on the Bougouni licence.

Meanwhile, the company continues to build the Ngoualana mine and a DMS processing plant for Stage 1 of the Bougouni project. Current site activities include civil concrete work for the footings of the DMS and crushing circuits, the preparation of the project office area and topsoil stripping for the start of openpit construction.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Kodal Minerals, tel +44 20 3463 2260.