The Canadian junior explorer, Giyani Metals Corp, is inching closer to the development of its high-grade manganese project in Botswana, as the company prepares to begin work on the feasibility study for its K.Hill manganese deposit, in the south-eastern parts of Botswana.
Last week, Giyani received positive initial feedback from SRK, Tetra Tech, and Royal IHC, following a three-day site visit to K-Hill, organised for the trio consultants who will be the project leads for their respective practices to survey project area.
During the visit, the team surveyed the place to consider potential locations for the mine, processing plant, waste rock and tailings facilities. It was also revealed that the consultants assessed the area’s infrastructure and various other aspects related to the overall project.
Additionally, the team inspected the drill hole locations from the 2018 resource drilling program and considered potential drill hole locations for the infill drilling programme for this year. The potential benefits and impacts of the K-Hill project, which will be examined in detail in the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) to be run in parallel with the feasibility study.
Already, Giyani in December appointed Loci Environmental Management and Consulting, a local based company, to conduct the ESIA. Loci outshined two other bidders in a tendering process that began November 2019, with the contractor submitting a comprehensive proposal that satisfied all the requirements set forth in the Giyani’s request for proposal at a competitive price.
“The relationship between Giyani and Loci is not new. We have been working closely with Loci, for the past year, on the environmental management plans (EMP) for our three manganese deposits in Botswana: K.Hill, Otse and Lobatse,” Robin Birchall, CEO of Giyani, said last week.
The recent appointments of consultants advances K.Hill towards production and provide the platform for Giyani to become a leading producer of battery grade manganese for the electric vehicle market, the company said. Giyani ramped up its efforts last month when it also appointed Lazenby Holdings to undertake the environmental clean-up work at the K.Hill and Otse manganese deposits.
K-Hill promises to be a multi-billion-pula spinner for Giyani following the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released in August 2019, which projected strong economic potential on findings based on 1.1 million tonnes – which the company says will produce 245,000 tonnes over the 9-year life span.
The mined high purity electrolytic manganese metal is expected to push the company’s pre-tax net present value (NPV) of $369 million, and an after tax of $285 million, based on a 10 percent discount rate.
Giyani expects pre-production capital injection of $108.5 million, and then further inject about $9.9 million to sustain production, while $17.8 million has been eyed for contingency. The closure costs for total project capital has been pegged at $188 million. The company is hinging its project economics on a projected average price of $4,700 per tonne when selling the high purity electrolytic manganese metal.
