TIDMKOD
RNS Number : 9953S
Kodal Minerals PLC
09 October 2017
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR")
Kodal Minerals Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: KOD / Sector: Mining
9 October 2017
Kodal Minerals plc ('Kodal Minerals' or 'the Company')
Battery Grade Lithium Carbonate Produced from Metallurgical and
Processing Testwork at Bougouni Lithium Project, Mali
Kodal Minerals plc, the AIM quoted mineral exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce that Shandong Ruifu
Lithium Co Ltd ('Shandong Ruifu'), one of the largest lithium
carbonate producers in China, has produced a high quality, low
impurity battery grade lithium carbonate using spodumene
concentrate from the Company's Bougouni lithium project in Southern
Mali ("Bougouni" or the "Bougouni Project").
Highlights
-- Battery Grade Lithium Carbonate: Shandong Ruifu successfully
processed Bougouni spodumene concentrate to produce high grade
lithium carbonate suitable for use in lithium battery
production;
-- Low Impurities: Chemical analysis of the final lithium
carbonate product reports low levels of impurities supporting its
positioning as a premium product compared to many other products in
the market;
-- Full Processing Path: This processing testwork confirms the
Bougouni spodumene concentrate's amenability for downstream
processing into a final lithium carbonate product with excellent
conversion and recovery of lithium mineralisation at all stages of
processing;
-- Bougouni Spodumene Concentrate: Earlier testwork had
demonstrated the ability to produce spodumene concentrates ranging
between 5.5% and 6.7% lithium oxide from Bougouni samples via
flotation treatment of reverse circulation drill chips;
-- Further Concentrate Testwork: Mineral processing testwork is
continuing with a programme to optimise comminution and spodumene
concentration using the Company's available diamond drill core;
-- Independent Verification: Additional testwork is to be
completed at an independent metallurgical laboratory to provide
further confidence in the process.
Bernard Aylward, CEO of Kodal Minerals, said: "The production of
a high-purity, battery grade lithium carbonate from our spodumene
concentrate is a further indication of the quality of the
mineralisation at our Bougouni Lithium Project. The testwork
completed previously had demonstrated good metallurgical recoveries
producing a high grade spodumene concentrate, and these test
results now confirm that this spodumene can be converted to a final
lithium carbonate product that will be seen as a premium product
compared to many others in the market.
"Kodal is maintaining a very busy exploration and definition
programme at Bougouni and this ongoing programme of testing is a
key criterion in our overall assessment of the project. Our
programme includes the extraction of a 5,000 tonne bulk sample to
be shipped to China for further testing and review of potential
plant design parameters. The focus is on the production of
spodumene concentrate on-site at Bougouni. The bulk sample will be
treated through to a lithium carbonate product to provide a full
process review.
"Our exploration drilling and definition work is scheduled to
commence as soon as possible after the rainy season, with a drill
rig contracted to undertake a large-scale programme testing our
advanced prospects as well as several high-priority new
prospects."
Further Information
Process Testwork
This testing was completed at the Shandong Ruifu Lithium Co Ltd
("Shandong Ruifu") plant in the Tai'An region of the Shandong
province of China. Shandong Ruifu has a close relationship with
Kodal's major shareholder Suay Chin International Pte Ltd and
operates a lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide production plant
in the Shandong province of China. Shandong Ruifu recently
completed an upgrade to the processing plant and is looking to
secure supply of quality lithium bearing mineralisation.
The objective of this testwork was to demonstrate the
suitability of the Bougouni spodumene concentrate to fit into a
downstream processing plant and demonstrate the production of high
quality, battery grade lithium carbonate.
The lithium carbonate produced by the process is reported as a
high quality, low impurity product suitable for battery production.
The final analysis of the grade of the lithium carbonate is tabled
below:
Table 1: Comparison of Lithium Carbonate analysis to Industry
standard
Element Li(2) Na Mg Ca K Fe
CO(3)
------------- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Analysis 99.52% 0.020% 0.0003% 0.0031% <0.001% 0.0002%
------------- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Industry >99.5% <0.025% <0.008% <0.005 <0.001 <0.001
Standard
comparison
------------- ------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Testwork Procedure:
The processing path for the production of lithium carbonate
includes calcination, acidification, leaching/purification and
finally a process of thickening and washing to produce the lithium
carbonate. The results for each stage are summarised below, with
recoveries and comments outlining the process:
Calcination
The calcination process converts the spodumene crystal from an
"alpha" to "beta" form and allows the lithium present in the
spodumene crystal to be displaced by sodium in the process. The
calcination process heats the sample up to a temperature of 1,100
degrees in a furnace for two hours. The results of the calcination
process indicate over 95% conversion with low viscosity and no
sintering observed in the inner lining of the furnace.
Acidification
The acidification process involves the addition of sulphuric
acid and mixing, followed by a further period of heating to 300
degrees centigrade. The lithium yield following the acidification
process is reported as 97% following the reaction process.
Leaching/Purification
This process involves dissolving the acid clinker in a water
based solution to remove impurities and create a sulphuric lithium
liquid. The process achieved a sulphuric lithium liquid with Li(2)
O reporting >20g/l and impurities (Ca, Mg etc) returning less
than 0.01g/l
Thickening and Washing
The thickening and washing circuit separates waste from the
concentrated lithium sulphuric solution, while precipitation
removes magnesium and calcium from this solution. A Soda ash is
then added to the solution and lithium carbonate precipitated.
The process of treatment of the Bougouni Spodumene concentrate
has resulted in a high purity Lithium Carbonate product with low
impurities as indicated in table 1.
Bougouni Lithium Mineralisation
The pegmatite veins intersected by drilling at Bougouni are
spodumene rich (20-30% spodumene content) low mica pegmatite bodies
with spodumene being the main lithium bearing mineral in most hard
rock lithium deposits. The high-grade lithium mineralisation
returned in the assays compares favourably with other hard rock
spodumene mineralised pegmatite veins under development around the
world where grades range from 1.1% Li(2) O through to 1.4% Li(2) O.
The intersections reported in this announcement have been estimated
using a 1.0% Li(2) O lower-cut, and have consistently high
mineralisation throughout the pegmatite bodies.
An initial review of the development process for the Bougouni
lithium pegmatite bodies was completed as part of the World Bank
sponsored SYSMIN study completed by CSA Global in 2008. This report
indicated that a process of mine site crushing, screening and dense
media separation techniques was able to produce a good quality
spodumene concentrate, with grade over 6% Li(2) O. Chemical grade
spodumene concentrate (typically containing 6% Li(2) O) is sold for
use in battery manufacturing and other industrial applications.
Recent lithium concentrate (grade 6%) prices are approximately
US$600/t.
The exploration results and activity reported in this
announcement have been reviewed by Mr Bernard Aylward who is a
Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr
Aylward has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity being undertaken to qualify as a Qualified Person as
defined in the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies
dated June 2009. Mr Aylward consents to the inclusion in this
announcement of the matters based on his information in the form
and context in which it appears.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.kodalminerals.com or
contact the following:
Kodal Minerals plc
Bernard Aylward, CEO Tel: +61 418
943 345
Allenby Capital Limited, Nominated
Adviser Tel: 020 3328
Jeremy Porter/Nick Harriss 5656
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP,
Financial Adviser & Broker Tel: 020 3470
John Mackay 0470
St Brides Partners Ltd, Financial
PR Tel: 020 7236
Susie Geliher/Megan Dennison/Lottie 1177
Wadham
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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