West Africa-focused lithium and gold exploration company, Kodal Minerals, has finalized a transaction with Hainan Group, securing $117.75 million.
The funds are allocated for the development and kickstart of production at the Bougouni lithium project in Mali, alongside ongoing exploration initiatives.
The financing consists of a $17.75 million equity subscription by Hainan Group into Kodal and a substantial $100 million investment into Kodal’s UK subsidiary, Kodal Mining.
CEO Bernard Aylward expressed, “This marks a significant milestone in advancing towards the construction phase at Bougouni, aiming to become a producer of high-grade lithium spodumene concentrates.
Our collaboration with Hainan Group has been instrumental in achieving key project developments as we work towards our shared objective of commencing production within the next year.”
Bougouni, an advanced lithium project, holds a mining permit for an initial 12-year period, extendable in ten-year increments until full resource extraction.
The project area spans 97 km², hosting highly promising lithium deposits, with a mineral resource estimate of 31.9 million tonnes of lithium oxide as assessed by the Joint Ore Reserve Committee.
The project’s development follows a two-stage strategy. Stage 1 focuses on processing ore from the Ngoualana deposit using a dense media separation (DMS) plant currently under construction.
Stage 2 will involve processing ore from the Boumou and Sogola-Baoulé deposits via a flotation plant.
Aylward highlighted the active work program planned for Bougouni, detailing ongoing engineering efforts in Johannesburg, led by operations director Steve Zaninovich and technical representative Jerry Gao.
Additionally, development activities in Mali, spearheaded by GM Yushen Caiy, include access road construction and site preparations initiated in October.
The company also looks ahead with exploration plans aimed at further drilling in priority areas like the Boumou prospect and assessing various pegmatite bodies within their mining license area.
Post-transaction, Hainan Group now holds 14.72% of Kodal’s issued share capital.
