TSX-V-listed Canadian junior exploration company Giyani Metals Corporation has appointed UK-based sustainability and lifecycle assessment consultancy Minviro to provide an International Organisation for Standardisation- (ISO-) compliant lifecycle assessment (LCA), including a carbon footprint evaluation, for its K.Hill manganese project, in the Kanye basin, in Botswana.

The work that will be conducted by Minviro over the coming months will help Giyani understand how to best achieve its commitment to deliver a low-carbon footprint, high-purity manganese product and how the K.Hill manganese project compares against its peers.

The ISO has a set of standards published on LCA – ISO 14040 and 14044. The standards outline the best practice requirements and principles to be undertaken for a LCA study. ISO compliance includes a third-party review by an independent panel. The results are then enabled to be disclosed publicly and used for comparison with different primary production methods of raw materials.

This will provide Giyani with an independently verified rating that is recognised by potential end-consumers.

Giyani CEO Robin Birchall says about 40% of an electric vehicle’s (EV's) overall carbon footprint is associated with the battery.

“An objective of many EV original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) – particularly those in Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea – is to reduce their products’ carbon footprint as much as possible. As such, public statements have been made by Tesla, BMW and other OEMs on the importance of sustainably-sourced lithium, cobalt and nickel in their supply chains.”

He says that, as the market share of nickel/manganese/cobalt oxide cathode batteries in EVs continues to grow, Giyani anticipates high-purity manganese will have increasing recognition.

“This view is based on feedback Giyani has received from battery manufacturers and OEMs as potential end-consumers, who are seeking alternative sources of high purity manganese with a lower carbon footprint to the incumbents in the market.”

Birchall adds that Minviro will evaluate opportunities for Giyani to achieve a zero-carbon footprint.

“Giyani believes there are several attributes, which are unique to the K.Hill manganese project, that not only make it one of the lowest cost producers, but also the potential to be one of the lowest carbon footprint producers of pure manganese metal.”