REG - Kodal Minerals PLC - First spodumene concentrate produced at Bougouni

Kodal MineralsAnnouncement

11/02/2025 07:15

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RNS Number : 6619W  Kodal Minerals PLC  11 February 2025

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR")

 

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

 

11 February 2025

Kodal Minerals plc

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

 

First spodumene concentrate produced at Bougouni and Project Update

 

Production achieved following commissioning of the DMS processing plant at
Bougouni

 

Kodal Minerals, the mineral exploration and development company, is pleased to
announce that first spodumene concentrate has been produced at its flagship,
fully-funded Bougouni Lithium Project in Southern Mali ("Bougouni" or the
"Project") and provides an update on progress of the Project.

 

First production of spodumene concentrate 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% Li(2)O 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.

 

Highlights:

·    Initial spodumene concentrate production has successfully been
achieved during the commissioning of the DMS processing plant and the
concentrate grade of 5.53% Li(2)O is extremely encouraging at this early stage
of the ramp up.

·    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 US$65 million capital
development budget, with only minor optimisation works remaining.

·    Open pit mining activities at the Ngoualana deposit continue to build
the run of mine ("ROM") stockpile, with over 350,000 tonnes of ore with
average grade of 1.17% Li(2)O ready for processing.

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

·    Further to the announcement of 1 November 2024, the mining licence
transfer has been lodged and accepted by the Mali Mines Department (the
"DNGM") and the final stages of compliance are near completion; and the issue
of the new mining decree is pending final signature from the President of
Mali.

 

Bernard Aylward, CEO of Kodal Minerals, remarked: "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.  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 tonnes per month target
at Bougouni.

 

"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."

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Construction and Commissioning

Processing plant and services construction is now complete with only minor
optimisation works remaining, which does not impact operations. Following the
full pre-commissioning of the DMS processing plant drives and processing
circuits, water was introduced to the DMS processing plant, and several short
runs of the processing circuit were completed. During this time a full
inspection of the DMS processing plant's performance was undertaken, and minor
deficiencies repaired and optimised as required in readiness for the
introduction of ore.

 

During the water commissioning phase, hands-on training of the DMS processing
plant operations team was conducted and all process control loops optimised.
Ore was then introduced for a short period of two hours to observe the DMS
processing plant's performance in relation to the handling of ore. On the
first run, the DMS processing plant performed very well with only a minor
number of improvements required to reduce small amounts of spillage at
transition points and further optimise control loops.

 

The DMS processing plant's operations team commenced continuous shift rosters,
and the plant was then successfully run at 50% tonnage throughput, continuing
to ramp up to the 100% design rates for some periods. The team will continue
to optimise the process in order to continuously achieve nameplate capacity
throughput.

 

Mining

Mining activities have continued to progress smoothly and are running
continuously with day and night shifts deployed.  The building of the ore
stockpile has continued with over 350,000 tonnes of ore grading on average
1.17% Li(2)O at the ROM. This represents approximately three months of ore
processing and provides the advantage that production ramp up will not be
hampered by insufficient mined ore.

 

Production

The first lithium spodumene product milestone was achieved, and onsite
laboratory testing has confirmed a 5.53% Li(2)O spodumene concentrate grade
from the first run, which is line with Kodal's target for the operation. With
further optimisation planned over the coming weeks, Kodal expects to achieve
steady state production and confirm arrangements for its first shipment of
product to China by the end of March 2025.

 

**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                                          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/Charlie Hammond                                         Tel: 0207 523 4680

 Burson Buchanan, Financial PR                                         Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000

 Bobby Morse/Oonagh Reidy                                              kodal@buchanancomms.co.uk

 

The Project is funded through the US$117.5m Hainan funding transaction (as
announced by the Company on 15 November 2023). This funding transaction
includes a US$100m investment into Kodal Mining UK Limited ("KMUK"), a company
owned 51% by the Hainan Group and 49% by Kodal, which is the developer of the
Project.

 

The exploration results and activity reported in this announcement have been
reviewed by Mr Bernard Aylward who is a Member of the Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Aylward has sufficient experience that is
relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Qualified
Person as defined in the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies dated
June 2009. Mr Aylward consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

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