(Ecofin Agency) - Kodal Minerals and Hainan Mining reached an agreement with the Malian government in 2024 to keep operations running at the Bougouni lithium mine. The agreement required two $15 million payments, with the second installment originally due on March 31, 2025.

UK-based Kodal Minerals announced on April 30 that it signed a $15 million loan agreement with Hainan Mining, its joint venture partner in Bougouni. Kodal Minerals will use half of this loan to pay the remaining $7.5 million owed to the Malian government, under the Chinese group’s investment in the project.

Hong Kong Xinmao Investment Co. Limited, a subsidiary of Hainan Mining, provided the $15 million loan facility. The loan has a 10-month term and a 15% annual interest rate. Kodal Mining UK Limited, controlled by Kodal Minerals and Hainan Mining, received the facility and holds a 65% interest in the Bougouni mine. Kodal Mining UK Limited will use revenue from future lithium exports to repay this debt.

Kodal Minerals made this payment to Mali to help start exports. “With the completion of the MoU payment and the recently announced mining licence transfer, the Bougouni Project team are now working to secure the necessary export permit as the final item required to commence spodumene concentrate sales,” commented CEO Bernard Aylward. 

Last month, Kodal said exports could begin in the next quarter. Since the Bougouni mine started operating in February 2025, it has produced over 20,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate, stored on-site and set to be shipped to China through the port of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire once exports begin.

Emiliano Tossou