By: Mining.com

Kodal Minerals (LON: KOD) reported on Wednesday progress at the open pit mining and Stage 1 dense media separation (DMS) processing plant at the Bougouni lithium project in southern Mali.

Bougouni is set to become Mali’s second operational lithium mine, following first spodumene production at the Goulamina project operated by China’s Ganfeng Lithium in December 2024.

The Bougouni project is operated by the local Mali-registered mining company, Les Mines de Lithium de Bougouni SA (LMLB), in which Kodal has a 49% shareholding.

The DMS processing plant continuing to process pegmatite ore and improvements to the plant are ongoing, the company said, adding that spodumene concentrate production currently exceeds 45,000 tonnes of product available for export.

Open-pit mining is continuing at Ngoualana. However, access to the lower levels of the open pit is restricted due to heavy rainfall typical of the wet season, and excess water in the pit, the company said.

Mining is continuing with the removal of free-dig material to final pit boundaries. Mineralized pegmatite ore on the run-of-mine stockpile ensures that the DMS processing plant continues to operate. The LMLB operation team is planning a shut down and maintenance period commencing late August to complete a final systematic check of the plant and complete improvements.

The Mali minister of mines, Amadou Keita, and the governor of the Bougouni region, General Ousmane Wele, completed a successful site visit to the Bougouni operations last week — with positive feedback provided by the minister, the company said.

The Bougouni team emphasized to the delegation the need for the export permit to be issued as soon as possible and demonstrated the significant volume of spodumene concentrate product available for immediate shipment.

The company said it is continuing site preparations for first export and are liaising with the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro in Côte d’Ivoire to ensure readiness for first shipment.

“I am pleased to confirm that the LMLB team are continuing to work closely with the government of Mali to finalize the requirements for an export permit,” Kodal Minerals CEO Bernard Aylward said in a news release.

“Once granted, the export permit will allow, inter alia, the transportation of the large stockpiles of spodumene concentrate to ports for shipment to China,” Aylward said. “The recent visit by the Malian minister of mines … and the governor of the Bougouni region … was received positively.

“During the visit, the LMLB team highlighted the large volumes of spodumene concentrate stored at the site along with the risk of running out of storage space. The LMLB team also emphasized the need for the project to expedite exports, which was noted by the delegation.”