Aim-listed lithium developer Kodal Minerals has confirmed further mineralised extensions on the Boumou prospect, within the Bougouni lithium project, in Mali.

The company has determined that Boumou contains high-grade and wide lithium mineralised intersections hosted by spodumene-rich veins, with more assay results pending and diamond core drilling ongoing to test the prospect further.

Some of the highlights from a reverse circulation drilling programme undertaken in April and May include 52 m of lithium oxide grading 1.51% from 175 m, 66 m of lithium oxide grading 1.26% from 72 m and 32 m of lithium oxide grading 1.11% from 93 m.

Kodal completed 18 drill holes for 3 234 m, with 2 129 samples having been submitted for assay. The intersections reported comprise ten of the drill holes and 1 200 of the samples.

The ongoing diamond core drilling will provide more samples for future metallurgical testwork and geotechnical logging for openpit optimisation parameters.

Additionally, the diamond drill core will inform the company’s Stage 2 flotation design and optimise the mining schedule with the Boumou and Sogola-Baoule prospects on the Bougouni licence.

Kodal CEO Bernard Aylward says the Boumou prospect continues to exceed his expectations, with the new high-grade intersections providing further support for the interpretation of the continuity of the pegmatite mineralisation on site – as initially defined in a March 2023 drilling campaign.

“The extension and definition of the Boumou prospect continues to be the highest priority for the exploration drilling, and the potential to define further coarse-grained mineralisation suitable to dense media separation (DMS) treatment may provide the opportunity to further extend the current four-year life of the Stage 1 Ngoualana DMS treatment plant currently in construction,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the company continues to build the Ngoualana mine and a DMS processing plant for Stage 1 of the Bougouni project. Current site activities include civil concrete work for the footings of the DMS and crushing circuits, the preparation of the project office area and topsoil stripping for the start of openpit construction.