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Highlights ABOUT BIRIMIAN QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT For period ending 31 March 2019 Highlights ABOUT BIRIMIAN Birimian Limited (ASX:BGS) is Goulamina Lithium Project developing the world class Goulamina Lithium Project in Mali, West Africa. The • Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) company released the results of its Pre- Permit received Feasibility Study (PFS) on the project to the ASX on 4 July 2018. • Appointment of key executive staff to bolster the Company’s in house expertise In March 2019 the company received • Exploitation Permit application submitted its’ Environmental Permit approval, and in April submitted its Exploitation Permit • Ongoing discussions with new potential partners regarding Application to the Malian Government. investment and offtake The Goulamina deposit is one of the Corporate largest Spodumene deposits in Africa and presents a huge opportunity to • Mr Chris Evans appointed Managing Director establish a new major source of Lithium • Mr Alistair Cowden appointed Non Executive Chairman and exploit the ever increasing demand created by the production of Electric • Appointment of Mr Seydou Semega as Malian Country Vehicles Manager • Appointment of Mr Eric Hughes as CFO/CoSec Key metrics as at 31/03/2019: Shares on issue: 264,510,116 • Proposed Company name change to Mali Lithium Limited, Share options on issue: 9,500,000 subject to shareholder approval Cash: A$4.13M Share price: 16.5 cents • Annual General Meeting to be held on 27 May 2019 Market capitalisation: A$43.6M Dankassa and Massigui Gold Projects Birimian Limited ACN: 113 931 105 • Royalty payments received from Morila totalling A$990,081 Unit 18, Spectrum Building for December quarter production from N’tiola 100 – 104 Railway Road Subiaco WA 6008 T: +61 8 6149 6100 E: [email protected] W: www.birimian.com Page. 1 1 GOULAMINA PROJECT UPDATE The Goulamina Lithium Project (Goulamina or the Project) remained the principal operational focus of the Company during the March 2019 quarter (the Quarter). Three areas have been targeted for completion by the third quarter of 2019 to form the basis of Project design: 1. Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves - The main focus will be to improve resource categorisation allowing increases to Ore Reserves and to improve confidence levels in the Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. 2. Metallurgical recovery and concentrate quality - The focus will be on improving Li2O recovery above the 70% achieved in the PFS. Spodumene concentrate quality will also be targeted. The Project team will apply lessons learnt on the design and construction of recent Lithium processing plants. (Note: The Company confirms that all the material assumptions underpinning the Production Target and the forecast financial information derived from the Production Target in the original PFS announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.) 3. Water and Road Infrastructure Optimisation - Adequate quality and volume of water are key to the Project and further studies will be initiated to improve confidence in the water resources available. In addition, with the transport of Spodumene concentrate to port accounting for almost one third of operating costs, any optimisation in this area will yield significant benefits to the project economics. 2 HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT 2.1 Workplace Safety Birimian recorded no Lost Time Injury (LTI) incidents at the Company’s operations during the first Quarter of the year. A total of 15,909 hours was worked by Birimian staff and contractors in Mali during the Quarter. Total hours for the last 12 months were 59,174 with the following key reporting rates: The higher than expected TRIFR rate is due to a hand burn received by the exploration camp cook in August 2018 that required medical treatment. Page 2 3 LITHIUM – GOULAMINA PROJECT 3.1 Definitive Feasibility Study Work on the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) continues. Multiple opportunities to improve the Project and its returns in the high impact areas of Resource and Reserves, Process Plant Recoveries and Project Infrastructure have been identified. 3.1.1 Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves Work is underway to review and improve Mineral Resource categorisation the Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves contained within the Project. This work is being undertaken with the assistance of Cube Consulting Pty Ltd (Cube) and other third-party experts. 3.1.2 Metallurgical recovery and concentrate quality To date work for the DFS has focussed on the optimisation of the comminution and DMS aspects of the process with positive progress achieved to date. In the coming quarter, this area of work will be largely completed and the focus will move to flotation. Optimisation of the process flowsheet through this testwork program is expected to result in improved forecast process recovery and concentrate quality. Improved process recovery will increase the volume of spodumene concentrate produced by the Project. 3.1.3 Water and Road Infrastructure Optimisation AQ2 Pty Ltd (AQ2) have been engaged to undertake an assessment of the water supply options for the Project. This follows an initial review undertaken as part of the PFS. The assessment will focus on three potential water supply options: • Pipeline supply from the Sélingué Dam, approximately 20km to the south of the Project; • Surface water catchment dams; and • Groundwater supply. The Company is also reviewing the road infrastructure both in terms of the access road from the Project to the nearest main highway (approximately 15km) and also the route from the Project to port for shipment of concentrate, importation of capital and other equipment for the construction phase and reagent and consumable supply required in operation. During April, a route survey of available road routes was conducted by third-party contractors and the results of this survey will be used to finalise the logistics plan for the Project. 3.2 Environmental Permit On 6 March 2019 Birimian was extremely pleased to receive the signed Environmental Permit for the Goulamina Lithium Project from the Minister for the Environment of Mali. This resulted from the Page 3 submission of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Report in November 2018 and makes Goulamina the first Environmentally Permitted Lithium project in Mali. Post Quarter the Company will be completing a last round of Community Consultation to close out the ESIA process. 3.3 Project Exploitation Permit Following receipt of the Environmental approval for the project the Company finalised and submitted its Project Exploitation (Mining) Permit application to Direction Nationale de la Géologie et des Mines (DNGM, Mines Department, Mali) on 1 April 2019. The Company is now working closely with the DNGM over the coming months to ensure the application meets all statutory requirements. 3.4 Field Work 3.4.1 Diamond Drill Core In order to secure, protect and display the cores of the mineralized sections of the diamond drill holes drilled so far, during the quarter the core initially contained in iron boxes was transferred to wooden boxes. This work took place both on the former exploration camp located on the Torakoro permit and also at Birimian's office in Bougouni. Key mineralised core sections are now in the process of being transferred to a specifically designed containerised system to facilitate examination by external parties and further testwork as required. 3.4.2 Early Development Camp A 12 person early works camp that was purchased by the project in late 2018 has been delivered to the Birimian Bougouni Compound during the quarter. It is being stored under a recently constructed shelter to protect it from the elements until it is transferred to the mine site and erected prior to early works commencing. 3.4.3 Geotechnical Sampling As part of the water optimisation study being conducted within the DFS, the field exploration team has collected 46 soil samples from shallow test pits excavated in likely dam locations on the Torokoro Permit. These samples have been sent initially to a laboratory in Bamako for Particle Size Distribution (PSD) analysis which will then be incorporated into designs being developed by Birimian’s Perth based hydrological consultants, AQ2. 3.4.4 Exploration The Birimian exploration team has also been conducting field work in the area surrounding Torokoro to assess the prospectivity of nearby tenements and free ground. The area surrounding Torokoro appears Page 4 highly prospective for both Lithium and Gold and the team are also working with other tenement holders in the area to identify potential opportunities for Birimian. 4 GOLD PROJECTS 4.1 Morila Gold Royalty Received Royalty payments totalling US$714,298 (A$990,081) were received during the Quarter from the sale of gold produced from the N’tiola Area of Interest (N’tiola) at the Morila Gold Mine operated by Randgold Resources Limited (Randgold). Randgold owns 40% of Société des Mines de Morila SA (Morila) with the State of Mali and joint venture partner owning 20% and 40% respectively. The royalties related to sales made during the period 1 October 2018 to 31 December 2018. Randgold reported total gold sales for the December Quarter, including gold produced from Ntiola, of 18,304 oz, at an average price of US$1,232/oz. In terms of the agreement between Morila, Birimian and Birimian’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Birimian Gold Mali SARL (BGM), Morila is paying BGM a sliding scale Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty of 4% when the gold price is $1,200/oz or higher and 3% when the gold price is $1,100/oz to $1,199/oz. Birimian will receive regular quarterly payments from Morila during mining at N’tiola and Viper. With respect to any NSR royalty received from the mining at Viper, the Company must pay a 1% royalty to a third party. On 16 January 2019 and 24 January 2019 Birimian announced that it had completed separate negotiations with Morila to enable N’tiola and Viper ore to be blended with Morila tailings for processing through the Morila plant.
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