Mineral exploration and development company Kodal Minerals has produced the first spodumene concentrate at its flagship, fully-funded Bougouni lithium project, in southern Mali.

This was achieved during the commissioning phase of the full Stage 1 dense media separation (DMS) processing plant with the introduction of pegmatite ore into the processing circuit.

The DMS processing plant performance has achieved target on this initial run with assay of spodumene concentrate at 5.53% lithium oxide produced, in line with the planned production profile.

This initial spodumene concentrate production was achieved ahead of schedule and paves the way for the ramp-up of the DMS processing plant to nameplate capacity in the coming weeks, the company highlights.

The commissioning of the DMS processing plant has proceeded through various stages, with water commissioning completed followed by the introduction of pegmatite ore to the plant.

Commissioning continues with the review of the processing circuits, including balancing of the pegmatite ore feed input and the density loading of the DMS units.

Construction costs remain within the $65-million capital development budget, with only minor optimisation works remaining, Kodal says.

Openpit mining activities at the Ngoualana deposit continue to build the run-of-mine (RoM) stockpile, with over 350 000 t of ore with average grade of 1.17% lithium oxide ready for processing.

The mining and processing operation at Bougouni has now started 24/7 operations.

Further as announced in November last year, the mining licence transfer has been lodged and accepted by the Mali Mines Department and the final stages of compliance are near completion. Also, the issue of the new mining decree is pending final signature of the President of Mali.

“The first production of spodumene concentrate at Bougouni marks a major milestone for Kodal and I would like to thank our entire team for this achievement, which wholly reflects the dedication and effort of all those involved,” Kodal CEO Bernard Aylward acclaims.

“We are confident that this progress will continue into the commercial production phase and our project team will continue to work towards our 10 000 t a month target at Bougouni,” he asserts.

“The operational focus over the coming weeks will be the finalisation of commissioning and stress testing of the DMS processing plant as we ramp up to achieve nameplate capacity and steady state production. We look forward to confirming our first shipment of lithium spodumene concentrate to Hainan in China by the end of this quarter,” Aylward informs.