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MINING | MALI LITHIUM
MALI LITHIUM OWNER OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST UNCOMMITTED HARD ROCK LITHIUM RESERVE
Despite its name suggesting a focus on just one commodity, Mali Lithium is pursuing a dual strategy in lithium and gold within Mali in West Africa. The ASX-listed firm originally owned gold assets under the name Birimian Gold, but in 2016 – when the lithium boom was just beginning to ramp up – Mali Lithium discovered outcropping lithium pegmatites in the Bougouni region of Southern Mali. The company soon established the Goulamina Lithium Project and has spent the last two and a half years focusing on the prospective area, completing a pre-feasibility study (PFS) in mid-2018. A year later, the company accordingly changed its name to Mali Lithium. That being said, Mali Lithium maintains several exciting gold tenements in Mali, which is Africa’s third largest gold producer.
MINING | MALI LITHIUM
Prior to joining Mali Lithium, Evans was COO of Altura Mining and helped build its Pilgangoora Mine in Western Australia alongside Marc Rowley, who now also works for Mali Lithium as project director. Mali Lithium’s process manager Walter Madel is another team member that has joined in the last 18 months with history in WA’s lithium sector.
Pre-feasibility study Mali Lithium’s 100%-owned Goulamina project comprises of a land holding of 100 km in the region of Bougouni, approximately 150 km by road from Mali’s capital, Bamako. After RC and diamond drilling identified several spodumenebearing pegmatites, the company published a PFS for “The senior management team
the project in July 2018.
has had a reasonable turnover
The PFS revealed Goulamina
in the last couple of years,” says
to be the world’s largest
managing director Chris Evans.
uncommitted hard rock lithium
“In fact, we now have a team
reserve, with 31.2 million
of specialists who have had
tonnes (Mt) of ore in reserve at
significant previous experience
a grade of 1.56% lithium oxide.
in the lithium market.”
“Having a full mining permit is the most significant milestone we’ve had to date on the project. With the right funding and partner in place we could start building our mine tomorrow” Chris Evans, Mali Lithium managing director
Other metrics included a 16year life of mine (LoM) with 362,000 tonnes per annum average production at 6% spodumene concentrate. The LoM annual average EBITDA was estimated at US$128 million per annum against an AISC of US$319 per tonne of concentrate, although Mali Lithium has been working on ways to optimise the project’s financial and operational metrics ahead of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) due out in May 2020. “We already have a fantastic resource and reserve and I believe we can further optimise them to create more certainty. We have some of our JORC resource in the indicated and inferred category, and we want to drag some of that into the measured.” Mali Lithium is also planning to make infrastructural
savings made in these areas
international engineering
optimisations in the critical
will reduce the company’s
and project delivery group
areas of power, water and the
operational costs in the DFS,
Lycopodium.
nearby road networks. Any
which will be delivered by
MINING | MALI LITHIUM
months after Mali Lithium was awarded an environmental permit. This quick turnaround reflects the relative ease of doing business in Mali’s mining sector. “Working with the Malian government has been an absolute pleasure because they have a very clear mining code that is very easy to understand and has short permitting times. We received our environmental permit four months after submitting it and later received our mining permit soon after submission” A long-established gold industry in Mali means that the Ministry of Mines is staffed with mining professionals who operate at a high standard. This puts the country in strong stead as the mining sector looks to diversify away from gold and into next-gen metals like lithium.
Final project approval
- and thus final approval from the Malian government
Notably, Mali Lithium is set
The Goulamina project
in August last year, just three
to be at the vanguard of Mali’s
obtained a full mining permit
expanding mining industry, as the Goulamina project is the
first major development to be
of intent with CRIMM, a
signed the letter of intent to
granted a full permit outside
division of China Minmetals
investigate EPC construction
of the gold sphere in recent
Corporation, relating to the
of our project, but on the back
times, according to Evans.
potential EPC construction of
of that they want to look at
the Goulamina project. State-
offtake and potential funding
“Having a full mining permit is
owned China Minmetals is the
options.”
probably the most significant
largest Chinese-owned mining
milestone we’ve had to date
company and has a long
China Minmetals has spent
on the project. Now we are
history of expertise in lithium
the last 12 months reviewing
fully permitted, with the right
processing and product
and analysing the PFS and
funding and partner in place
marketing.
conducting specialist testwork
we could start building our mine tomorrow.”
Chinese partners
on the Goulamina ore at “China Minmetals expressed
its laboratory in Changsha,
interest in our project at
Hunan province.
that point because of its size
Back in December 2018,
and China’s need for lithium
In the last quarter of 2019,
Mali Lithium signed a letter
projects in the future. They
Mali Lithium announced
MINING | MALI LITHIUM
positive results from its recent
which is quite remarkable
metallurgical testwork in
and shows that our product
cooperation with CRIMM,
is amenable to battery grade
in that the Goulamina ore
chemical conversion. It also
had achieved its target of
showed our product is low in
6% spodumene concentrate
key deleterious elements iron
grade, along with an improved
and mica.�
lithium recovery rate of 87%.
MALI LITHIUM REPRESENTIVES AT 2020 MINING INDABA
M A L I L ITHIU M AT A G L A N C E
Mali Lithium has since In addition, Mali Lithium
commenced a scoping study
has previously had a small
with global engineering firm
sample of its 6% concentrate
Hatch for the downstream
converted into lithium
processing of its spodumene
carbonate for the downstream
concentrate from Goulamina.
battery market.
The standalone study will assess the prospect of
“We made 99.9% concentrate
producing intermediary
on a one-off unoptimised run,
products lithium sulphate and
STOCK TICKER
US$9.7 million (as of March 18, 2020)
MARKET CAPITALISATION ASX:MLL
ab j
lithium oxide ahead of final
two highly prospective gold-
conversion to battery grade
producing tenements in the
lithium chemicals. The study
Massigui area of Southern
should be completed by May.
Mali. Barrick mined the tenements during 2018-19 and
More recently, Mali Lithium
subsequently paid AUS$4.5
signed a deal with Chinese
million in royalties to Mali
civil contractor CHICO for
Lithium until June last year.
early contractor involvement (ECI) at the Goulamina project.
“It was fantastic having those
The agreement, signed in
royalties come in last year.
October last year, will see
Now we want to create some
CHICO price the project’s
more value out of those gold
operational and capital costs to
tenements and we have since
compare against the DFS.
done lots of drilling near the Viper and N’tiola tenements
“CHICO is an experienced
and therefore also near
contractor who is currently
Barrick’s Morila mine.”
constructing and operating
EXECUTIVE OVERV C H R I S E VA N S , M A
in a number of West African
One specific area of interest
countries. The mutual benefit
for Mali Lithium within the
that this relationship will bring
Massigui project is the Koting
to each of our organisations
deposit. London-listed Capital
will be significant,” said Evans
Drilling were deployed to
metres @ 11.1 g/t gold from
following the announcement.
conduct 12 RC drill holes for
100 metres, 12 metres @ 8.92
a total of 1,600 metres at the
g/t gold from 63 metres and
deposit in October 2019.
one metre @ 13.80 g/t gold
The gold portfolio
Prior to joining Mali Lithium, E Marc Rowley, who now also wo member that has joined in the
from 140 metres.
Turning to the other half of
The subsequent assay
the portfolio, Mali Lithium
results were deemed highly
Evans also reveals that the
had in place a joint venture
encouraging, with significant
company is currently having
with Barrick Gold covering
intersections including four
ongoing discussions with Barrick about a continuing
MINING | MALI LITHIUM
VIEW NAGING DIRECTOR
Evans was COO of Altura Mining and helped build its Pilgangoora Mine in Western Australia alongside orks for Mali Lithium as project director. Mali Lithium’s process manager Walter Madel is another team e last 18 months with history in WA’s lithium sector. arrangement with the Morila
its exploration activities at
rock lithium project in the
mine and processing facility.
its gold tenements, along
world, and we will soon have
with resource drilling at the
completed our DFS.
Pole position in the lithium race
Goulamina project. “We also have a team
After Mali Lithium raised
“We think we are going to be
with major experience in
AUS$4.23 million in a
extremely well-positioned
developing lithium projects
renounceable rights issue in
over the next 12 months
and on the flip side, we have
October 2019, the company
in terms of our flagship
some gold tenements that can
is well-cashed up to continue
Goulamina project. We are
potentially create value for
the largest uncommitted hard
shareholders.”
Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
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