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Kodal made the agreement with local company Bambara Resources, with it covering the newly-granted concessions Mafele Ouest and Nkemene Ouest, which form the Bougouni West project.
It said the concessions were in the vicinity of known mineralisation, incuding ASX-listed Birimian's Goulamina project, which has a mineral resource of 103 million tonnes at 1.34% Li2O.
Due to its proximity to Bougouni, the area will be explored using Kodal's existing geological team and infrastructure, with CEO Bernard Aylward saying Kodal had already undertaken initial ground reconnaissance during its due diligence review and started the prioritisation of exploration targets for immediate follow-up using surface geochemistry, ground magnetics and drilling.
He said the company was focusing its initial review and targeting on the Goulamina structure and parallel positions in a similar geological setting.
To secure access to the concessions and earn an initial 80% interest, Kodal will pay £185,000 (US$240,000) in cash and £195,000 in Kodal shares over three stages.
The initial £35,000 in cash and £65,000 in shares will be issued on signing, the next £70,000 in cash and £65,000 worth of shares in six months and the final £80,000 in cash and £65,000 worth of shares after one year.
It can up its interest to 100% after it applies for a mining licence by paying another £500,000 in cash and granting Bambara a 2% royalty based on the sale price received for lithium concentrate at the point of export and on the net smelter price of any other mineral recovered.
Aylward said Bougouni remained Kodal's main focus, but the concession option was a good opportunity to expand in the region and "enhanced the possibility of further discovery and support for our proposed development of open pit mining and a spodumene concentrate processing plant centred on the region of Bougouni".
"Kodal has negotiated attractive terms that allow us to explore and potentially discover new zones of lithium mineralisation that would complement our existing project and further enhance our long-term position in this region," he said.
Kodal's shares rose 5.41% on the news Wednesday to 0.20p (US0.26c).
