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(Alliance News) - Kodal Minerals PLC on Thursday said that using a lower-cost processing plant will make rapid initial development plausible at the Bougouni project in Mali.
Kodal is a mineral exploration and development company focused on lithium and gold assets. It holds a portfolio of several prospective gold projects in southern Mali and the Ivory Coast, but its primary focus is the Bougouni Lithium project, an open-pit lithium mine.
Kodal shares were 11% higher at 0.30 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon, after the company said it believed a dense media separation processing plant would be a faster and cheaper solution for processing material from the Ngoualana deposit at Bougouni.
The plant would cost an estimated USD65.0 million to build.
Kodal expects revenue from the dense media separation operation to exceed USD1.05 billion in less than four years, based on prevailing broker consensus pricing averaging USD2,080 per tonne.
Its production target is 5.5% lithium oxide spodumene concentrate, consistent with other active market producers.
Kodal's DMS proposal is based on an initial mine life of four years, while expected capital and operating costs were taken from previous deposit studies.
"At much reduced capital and operating costs, and an expected construction timeline of around twelve months, the DMS development option provides Kodal with a near-term solution to take full advantage of the continuing buoyant lithium market," said Chief Executive Officer Bernard Aylward.
By Holly Beveridge; hollybeveridge@alliancenews.com
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