After being granted a mining license in September last year, Giyani Metals is charging ahead with its groundbreaking Kgwakgwe Hill manganese project in Kanye, marking a major milestone with the production of its first batch of high-purity manganese oxide (HPMO). The material, a key ingredient for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and energy storage systems, was successfully processed at the company’s demonstration plant in Johannesburg.
According to Giyani Metals, HPMO samples are expected to be shipped this month to prospective offtake partners. As a result of this, the miner’s shares went up by 6.25 percent, giving the company a market capitalization of $23.3 million. HPMO is becoming the preferred precursor for lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) and lithium-manganese-nickel-oxide (LMNO) batteries. While HPMSM remains the preferred precursor for nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries, both HPMO and HPMSM can be used to produce LMFP and LMNO batteries.
Giyani said its demonstration plant remains on track to produce HPMSM during Q1 2025. Subsequently, a commercial plant is expected to be constructed in Botswana. The company is currently working on a definitive feasibility study, which is expected to be completed in 2025. A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) license was approved in December 2024, which allows Giyani to operate its commercial plant as a single factory special economic zone.
The SEZ license will directly and positively impact the company, as it brings various benefits. Giyani will benefit from a 5% corporate tax rate for the first ten years of production from its commercial plant, increasing to 10% thereafter.
Giyani Metals’ Kanye Manganese Project demo plant made significant progress during the hot commissioning phase in January 2025. These trials are a crucial part of the offtake process, which is essential for securing project financing. The demo plant is designed to identify opportunities, improve the design, and significantly de-risk the project. It allows Giyani to better understand how the commercial plant, which will be built in Botswana, will perform before construction, commissioning, and ramp-up.
Additionally, the demo plant enables final optimization of the engineering design and flow sheet, aimed at reducing operating costs and carbon footprints. This process is being conducted alongside the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), which is expected to be completed in 2025.
The Kgwakgwe Hill project is estimated to contain over 2.2 million tonnes of manganese oxide resources, with a preliminary economic assessment in 2023 giving the project a base case post-tax net present value of $984 million and an internal rate of return of 29%. Over a projected 57-year mine life, the project is expected to produce over 3.5 million tonnes of HPMSM.
