• Mali grants export permit for Kodal’s Bougouni lithium mine
• First 125,000 tons to ship via Côte d’Ivoire to China
• Pricing tied to SMM; Mali reserves right to verify rates

The Malian government has granted Kodal Minerals an export permit for spodumene concentrate produced at its Bougouni lithium mine. The British operator announced on Thursday, September 4, that the first shipments are expected to depart soon for a port in Côte d'Ivoire. According to previous communications from Kodal, lithium production from Bougouni will be shipped via the Ivorian port of Abidjan to its Chinese buyer, Hainan Mining.

The permit authorizes an initial volume of 125,000 tons, contingent on several conditions. These include the use of Malian transport companies and the payment of all due taxes, duties, and fees. Kodal specified that it has already reached an agreement with "a major Malian transport company," whose fleet of trucks will be mobilized on-site as soon as possible.

Another key requirement is that pricing must be indexed to the Shanghai Metal Market's (SMM) reference price for spodumene. An agreement signed in June with Hainan—which is also the majority shareholder in the joint venture operating Bougouni—stipulates that the Chinese group will purchase Bougouni's production based on the SMM's published price for 6% concentrate. However, Kodal noted that Bamako reserves the right to "verify and correct prices."

This pricing issue partly explains why no exports have taken place more than six months after Bougouni began operations in February 2025. In May, Kodal CEO Bernard Aylward stated that authorities wanted to ensure the lithium was sold at market prices. By early August, a stock of over 45,000 tons of spodumene concentrate was ready for shipment at the Bougouni site.

“The granting of the export license is a critical step for the development of the Bougouni project as well as Mali's burgeoning spodumene industry.  The permit further underpins the continued support of the Mali Ministry of Mines and the Government and their interest in the further development and expansion of Bougouni,” said Aylward.

Details on the export conditions for concentrate from Goulamina—Mali’s first lithium mine to enter production in December 2024—have not been disclosed. Majority-owned by China's Ganfeng, that project can initially supply more than 500,000 tons of spodumene concentrate annually, compared to Bougouni's initial production of 125,000 tons per year.

Emiliano Tossou