Kodal Minerals temporarily withdraws from Norway project

Mineral exploration and development company Kodal Minerals announced on Wednesday that it has requested a temporary withdrawal from the planning process for its non-core phosphate and titanomagnetite project in Southern Norway.

The AIM-traded firm said the move was in line with its strategy to prioritise development of its recently-acquired high grade lithium projects in Mali and its wider gold portfolio in West Africa.

It said the Kodal Project was fully impaired in its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2015 in response to the dramatic fall in the price of iron ore.

The company was seeking to continue to progress the planning process but was not undertaking any further exploration or development work on the project.

Its board has now decided to withdraw from the planning process to avoid expending further management time or incurring additional costs.

The company said it has written to the relevant municipalities requesting a temporary withdrawal from the planning process on the basis that the Kodal Project is not currently economically viable, and unlikely to change in the short term.

Kodal’s licences remain valid until July 2023 and the company may seek to restart the process if the economics of the project improve in the future.

“The excitement around, and potential value of, our recently acquired lithium assets in Mali, combined with the continued low level of the iron ore price, has prompted this pragmatic decision from the board,” said CEO Bernard Aylward.

“We are now directing the majority of the company's capital and management time towards West Africa and the areas of the business which we believe hold the most near term value for shareholders and we look forward to providing news from this core portfolio of assets in due course.”