Kodal Minerals PLC (AIM:KOD) said the power plant at its Bougouni lithium project in Southern Mali is now operational, paving the way for full commissioning of the Stage 1 Dense Media Separation (DMS) processing plant shortly.
Construction and commissioning of the DMS processing plant at the Ngoualana open pit mine comes ahead of lithium Spodumene production, which is expected in the first quarter of 2025.
Bernard Aylward, Kodal Minerals chief executive, added: "The team on site has performed fantastically to successfully finish the installation of the power generation plant and achieve the important "Power-On" milestone at Bougouni.
"Piping and electrical cabling have also continued to advance, and we are looking forward to commissioning the DMS processing plant in the coming weeks ahead of first commercial production later this quarter.”
Bougouni is fully funded through US$117.5m from Chinese firm Hainan, including US$100m investment into Kodal Mining UK Limited (KMUK), 51% by the Hainan Group and 49% by Kodal, which is the project’s developer.