KODAL Minerals expects to receive an export permit “in the near future” for 27,000 tons of lithium concentrate stockpiled at its Bougouni project in Mali, said Reuters citing the company on Monday.
The permit has faced delays due to regulatory hurdles in the West African nation, the newswire said updating an earlier article.
Kodeal CEO Bernard Aylward is currently in Mali reviewing operations, which the company says are continuing normally. Kodal, which began production in February, has emphasised its “positive relationship” with Mali’s government.
The situation unfolds against declining global lithium production, potentially dropping by 228,000 tons this year as miners reduce operations amid falling prices for the metal essential to electric vehicle batteries.
Kodal has already arranged to sell its entire output to China’s Hainan Mining. “We’re spending money to produce a product that we want to sell… Our buyer actually wants to buy it, [but] we can’t export,” Aylward recently told Reuters.
Mali’s military-led government has been asserting greater control over its mining sector, seeking to generate more revenue from the country’s significant lithium reserves. The authorities have previously detained foreign mining executives and seized mineral stocks during negotiations with multinational companies.
Prices of lithium have failed to rebound from a crash caused by softer electric vehicle demand and oversupply as miners have brought rapid production online since 2022, said Bloomberg News earlier this year. Several miners have curtailed output, shuttered mines, and paused investment on expansion projects in the past 12 months, it said.
