A $US117.75M conditional package from Chinese company Hainan Mining will fully fund West African-focused Kodal Minerals’ development and commencement of production at its Bougouni lithium project in Mali.
The deal is the first entry into hard rock pegmatite mining and processing for Hainan, an iron ore, oil and gas subsidiary of global consumer group Fosun International.
CEO Bernard Aylward says it will allow Kodal to fully fund the dense media separation plant with mining to commence at the high-grade Ngoualana deposit and support major drilling and exploration campaigns.
Hainan will acquire 51% of new Kodal subsidiary Kodal Mining UK. Chairman Liu Mingdong says Hainan looks forward to jointly developing the Bougouni project, starting production and reaching full scale operations as quickly as possible.