REG - Kodal Minerals PLC - Bougouni Lithium Project Update

Kodal MineralsAnnouncement

31/07/2024 07:15

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240731:nRSe5518Ya&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5518Y  Kodal Minerals PLC  31 July 2024

 

Kodal Minerals Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: KOD / Sector: Mining

 

31 July 2024

Kodal Minerals plc

("Kodal Minerals", "Kodal" or the "Company")

 

Bougouni Lithium Project Update - Construction Progress on Track

 

The Board of Kodal Minerals, the mineral exploration and development company,
is pleased to provide an update on project development activities at its fully
funded Bougouni Lithium Project in Southern Mali ("Bougouni" or the
"Project").  The Project is fully funded through the Hainan funding
transaction as previously announced by the Company on 15 November 2023 that
completed a US$100m investment into Kodal Mining UK Limited ("KMUK") a company
owned 51% by the Hainan group and 49% Kodal that is the developer of the
Project.

 

Highlights:

·    Shipping of the dense media separation ("DMS") processing plant and
crushing circuit modules is progressing with minor delays for reasons outside
KMUK's control, namely, the diversion of the vessel to Freetown, Sierra Leone
to offload other humanitarian cargo deemed urgent by the operator. The vessel
has since departed Freetown and is enroute to the scheduled Abidjan port in
Cote d'Ivoire.

·    Structural steelwork fabrication was completed in June and is also on
the above-mentioned vessel.

·    The second shipment is also currently enroute to Abidjan port,
passing Walvis Bay port in Namibia. This shipment contains the remainder of
the processing plant equipment, the initial consumables for the DMS plant,
spare parts, chemical laboratory and site equipment.

·    The mining contractors consortium comprising Auxin Mining Services
Mali SARL ("Auxin") and Enterprise Générale Traoré et Fréres SARL ("EGTF")
(the "Mining Contractors") is progressing well with mining at the Ngoualana
pit.

·    The civil construction contractor, Bambara Resources SARL
("Bambara"), together with its key subcontractor, GZB Mali, part of the
Gezhouba Group (GZB) from China, has completed all major footings for the DMS
plant in readiness to receive steelwork for erection.

·    Overall, the Project remains on budget and on target for production
by the end of 2024.

 

Bernard Aylward, CEO of Kodal Minerals, remarked: "The construction of the
Bougouni Project continues to progress satisfactorily with the targeted first
production before the end of 2024 remaining on schedule. The shipment of the
DMS plant, key equipment and plant steelwork has experienced some minor
shipping delays which were outside of our control. However, this will not
impact our overall production commencement target and work onsite is
continuing in preparation of the arrival of the processing plant."

 

"The civil contractor has completed the installation of all major DMS plant
footings, clearing the way for unfettered access for installation works to
complete steelwork and platework erection activities."

 

"The Mining Contractors commenced the mining of overburden materials at the
Ngoualana pit at the beginning of July with this material predominantly "free
dig" oxide waste. Hard rock will be reached next month, after which it is
anticipated that our first blast will be conducted in early September 2024.
The mining team is on target to have a stockpile of ore on the ROM pad for
commissioning and commencement of processing."

 

"We remain on track to achieve first production by year end, and within the
projected capital expenditure ("Capex") guidance of US$65m."

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

 

Shipping of equipment and steelwork

Critical long lead equipment, steelwork and platework items for the DMS
processing plant are enroute to West Africa. KMUK has experienced minor delays
with the shipment of the aforementioned items due to reasons outside of its
control, namely the diversion of the vessel to Freetown in Sierra Leone to
offload other humanitarian cargo that was deemed urgent by the operator.

 

As a result, KMUK has conducted a critical review of the overall construction
schedule and sequencing to assess the potential impacts of the delayed
shipment and remains confident that the shipping delay experienced will not
impact the overall production milestone target of the end of 2024. The freight
forwarding agent is making all the necessary preparations for prompt clearance
and transport of cargo in priority order to site. The site construction of the
DMS and steelwork design will be supervised by experts from Haiwang Technology
Group ("Haiwang") as part of the agreed purchase of the equipment from
Haiwang. This assistance will provide the installation team with immediate
access to technical experts from Haiwang who were involved in the design and
fabrication tasks and have supervised previous installations at various sites.

 

The final remaining major shipment is currently enroute from China, carrying
the power plant, as well as other minor outstanding sub-critical piping and
electrical items.

 

Civil construction - concrete contract

The civil construction works have continued to progress satisfactorily, and
all major concrete footings required for the assembly and erection of the DMS
plant steelwork have been completed. The delay of the shipment will give the
civil contractor additional time to fully prepare the access avenues to the
DMS area, and to ensure hardstands for crane operations are established and
solid.

 

Mining contract

Mining activities are progressing very well on site. The Mining Contractors'
mobilisation activities are advancing with the establishment of the explosives
storage and mixing yards, and the general mine services facilities. The final
location of the explosives storage and mixing yards was agreed with the
community representatives, mindful of limiting impacts to existing
agricultural areas. In addition, construction and secure fencing of the
explosive storage area is now near completion. Land acquisition compensation
arrangements have also been agreed in accordance with statutory obligations.

 

Removal of "free dig" overburden at the main Ngoualana pit is proceeding to
plan in order to remove the softer oxide waste and expose the hard rock
beneath. The Mining Contractors are on schedule to complete the free dig works
in advance of the first blast at the pit which is scheduled for early
September 2024.

 

Environmental and social updates

As part of the community consultation process and our commitment to improving
the livelihood of the adjacent communities, KMUK donated two tractors to the
Kola-Sokoura and Ngoualana villages back in March 2024. It is pleasing to see
the village farmers making constructive shared use of the two tractors and
we've received much praise and appreciation for this initiative which has
enabled the communities to improve their farming productivities.

 

On 28 June 2024, KMUK'S ESR Manager, Operations Director and our entire
community relations team attended the school ceremonies on the final day
before the start of school holidays for the Kola-Sokoura School. In addition,
KMUK awarded gifts of encouragement to the best performing students in the
class and to the teacher in the presence of the parents of students, the chief
of the village and his administration notables, and an educational advisor
from the Centre for Pedagogical Animation (CAP) of Bougouni.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information, please visit www.kodalminerals.com or contact the
following:

 

 Kodal Minerals plc

 Bernard Aylward, CEO                                                  Tel: +61 418 943 345

 Allenby Capital Limited, Nominated Adviser

 Jeremy Porter/Vivek Bhardwaj/Nick Harriss                             Tel: 020 3328 5656

 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP, Financial Adviser & Joint Broker

 John Mackay/Adam Cowl                                                 Tel: 020 3470 0470

 Canaccord Genuity Limited, Joint Broker

 James Asensio/Gordon Hamilton                                         Tel: 0207 523 4680

 Burson Buchanan, Financial PR

 Bobby Morse/Oonagh Reidy                                              Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000

                                                                       kodal@buchanancomms.co.uk

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDRBMATMTAJMII