Wedoany.com Report-Dec.3, Kodal Minerals announced on Monday that it has completed its first commercial shipment of lithium spodumene concentrate from the Bougouni mine in southern Mali.

A bulk carrier loaded with 28,950 tonnes of the mineral departed over the weekend from the Port of San Pedro in Côte d'Ivoire bound for Hainan province in China, where the material will be delivered to offtake partner Hainan Mining Co.

The shipment forms part of an initial 45,000-tonne stockpile produced at Bougouni's dense media separation plant. The remaining volume will be transported to the port and shipped in the near term.

Kodal Minerals CEO Bernard Aylward stated that the final sale price will reflect recent improvements in lithium market conditions and is expected to exceed $930 per dry metric tonne after quality adjustments and deduction of sea freight costs.

Following loading, Kodal's Malian subsidiary LMLB will invoice Hainan Mining for 95 percent of the cargo value, generating approximately $24 million in initial revenue for the company.

Commercial production at Bougouni began in February with material from the Ngoualana deposit. Stage 1 of the project, utilising dense media separation, targets annual output exceeding 125,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate. A future flotation plant (Stage 2) will process ore from the Boumou and Sogola-Baoulé deposits, which together host a resource of 31.9 million tonnes at 1.06 percent lithium oxide.

The Bougouni mine is operated by LMLB, owned 65 percent by a Kodal-Hainan joint venture (with Kodal holding 49 percent and Hainan 51 percent) and 35 percent by the Government of Mali.

Analysts view the successful first shipment and incoming revenue as positive developments, particularly given the ongoing recovery in lithium prices. The transaction marks Bougouni's transition to revenue-generating status and confirms the project's ability to deliver high-quality spodumene concentrate to international customers.