Kodal Minerals, the mineral exploration, and development company focused on lithium and gold assets in West Africa, announces its final results for the year ended 31 March 2023.
The Company’s Annual Report and Accounts will be made available on the Company’s website www.kodalminerals.com shortly. The Company’s annual general meeting (“AGM”) will be held at 11:00 a.m. on 29 September 2023 at Fieldfisher LLP, 9th Floor, Riverbank House, 2 Swan Lane, London EC4R 3TT.
Operational Highlights
Bougouni Lithium Project, Mali (“Bougouni” or the Project”)
· US$117.75 million funding package agreed with Hainan Mining Co. Limited (“Hainan”) a subsidiary of Fosun International Limited (“Fosun”) and its industrial platform for mining and resources:
o US$65 million reserved to fully fund the cost of the Dense Media Separation (DMS) Project targeting delivery of first production within 12 months of receipt of funds.
o Additional funds will be deployed to:
§ increase the Bougouni Lithium Project’s JORC compliant resource inventory currently at 21Mt @ 1.11% Li2O and extend the mine life; and
§ Support the development of the flotation plant expansion project which has the potential to increase spodumene production from ~125,000 to over 300,000tpa and deliver life of mine (8.5 years) revenue exceeding US $2.15bn.
· DMS Project development scenario presented:
o Low capital development cost estimated at US$65 million;
o Payback of two months from commencement of operations;
o NPV7% of approximately US$420 million post tax;
o Over 130,000tpa production of spodumene concentrate with an initial 4-year mine life;
o DMS operation revenue exceeds US$1.05bn in less than four years based on broker consensus pricing averaging US$2,080 per tonnes.
· Bougouni is fully permitted for development and construction once funding package is completed – long stop date for funding package is 30 September 2023.
Gold Portfolio
· Progress towards establishing a maiden resource at Niéllé, in northern Côte d’Ivoire, based on an identified anomalous trend extending over 4.5km and which remains open along strike.
· Intercepts from Niéllé include: 26m @ 1.95 g/t Au from 32m, and 26m @1.79g/t Au from 108m.
· Further resource definition activities at Fatou, in southern Mali, which has a historical resource estimate of ~350 koz Au.
· Recent drill intercepts from Fatou include 23m @ 1.63 g/t Au from 82m, and 6m @ 1.49 g/t Au from 40m.
Financial and Corporate Highlights
· Group loss before other comprehensive income for the year of £1,461,000 (2022: £903,000).
· 27% increase in exploration and evaluation expenditure of £3,227,000 (2022: £2,547,000).
· 37% increase in the value of the gold projects in Mali and Cote d’Ivoire to £3,306,000 (2022: £2,411,000).
· 24% increase in value of the lithium projects in Mali to £11,216,000 (2022: £9,031,000).
· Cash balance of £545,000 as at 31 March 2023 (2022: £1,046,000).
· Post period end, in August 2023, a conditional prepayment of US$3,500,000 was received as part of the funding package with Hainan.
· Cash balance of £1,984,000as at 31 August 2023
Commenting on the results, Bernard Aylward, CEO of Kodal Minerals said:
“We are now on the final furlong with our pre-construction activities at Bougouni and are well positioned to break ground and start building our mine once our funding transaction with Hainan has been finalised in the coming weeks. We have been working extremely closely with the teams at Hainan and Fosun over recent months, and we are grateful for their continued support as we look to close out the final conditions precedent of our joint agreement. All parties are eager to start construction work and we are confident that this can now be expected in short order, as we look to deliver first production from our DMS plant in 2024.
“The coming weeks and months are set to be extremely active for us and I look forward to keeping shareholders updated as we begin our transition from developer to lithium producer.”
For further information, please visit www.kodalminerals.com or contact the following:
|
Kodal Minerals plc Bernard Aylward, CEO |
Tel: +61 418 943 345 |
