Name of the Project
K.Hill manganese project.

Location
The Kanye basin, in south-eastern Botswana.

Project Owner/s
Giyani Metals Corp.

Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has demonstrated the strong potential of the project.

The project envisages an operation with a nine-year life-of-mine, producing 245 000 t of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal.

The PEA proposes traditional truck-and-shovel mining methods. The proposed process for the production of electrolytic manganese metal includes comminution, leaching, solid/liquid separation and solvent extraction, as well as electrowinning and refining.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of C$491-million and an after-tax internal rate of return of 90.6%, with a payback of 1.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital expenditure is estimated at $369-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project aims to break ground in July 2020.

Latest Developments
Giyani Metals Corp has completed a processing trade-off study for its K.Hill manganese project as part of its ongoing feasibility study on the project.

The results from the study, conducted by Tetra Tech, do not materially change the robust project economics outlined in the project’s preliminary economic assessment (PEA), announced in April, the company has said.

Tetra, together with engineering consultants Royal IHC, sought to identify the optimal processing route for the project. This study only focused on the reductant phase of the process, which occurs upstream of solvent extraction and electrowinning.

The PEA assumed a sulphuric acid and reducing sugar-based process, but the study assessed two alternatives in addition to the process outlined in the PEA.

Giyani says the study showed that the sulphur dioxide-based process is the optimal route, as there is less process risk.

The associated operating costs and capital are also in line with those modelled in the PEA and, as a result, the sulphur dioxide process has been selected for the feasibility study.

CEO Robert Birchall has said that the change in the reductant process has reduced the company’s process risk, without any increase to capital or operating costs.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
SRK Consulting (PEA), and Tetra Tech and Royal IHC (feasibility study).

Contact Details for Project Information
Giyani Metals Corp, tel +1289291 4032 or email info@giyanimetals.com.