Manganese is already an important metal in the EV/battery metals equation. As the NMC battery chemistry formulations become more prevalent and the adoption of EVs increases globally, demand for battery-grade manganese is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years.
The catch? Most existing manganese projects are unsuitable as production inputs for this hi-tech market. The problem is the quality of these deposits. “Electromagnetic manganese metal” (EMM) that is required to make manganese chemicals for the battery industry must reach a purity level of at least 99.7% and must have low levels of undesired elements.
While some manganese deposits could potentially be processed to such a purity level, having the right chemical properties is critical to producing the right end-product at a competitive cost.
Giyani Metals Corp. (TSX: V.WDG, OTCQB: CATPF, Forum) is currently developing a manganese project with the battery electric vehicle market as its main target. But that’s only the starting point as to what makes the Company’s Kanye Manganese Project so attractive. Two other very prospective factors are jurisdiction and geology.
Investors wanting more background on the Kanye Project should refer to a Stockhouse full-length feature from April 3, 2018 that introduced Giyani to the Stockhouse audience. Its operations are based in Botswana (Africa).
Cited as Africa’s least corrupt nation (for the 22nd consecutive year), Botswana is not merely a safe mining jurisdiction, it encompasses a significant portion of the Transvaal Supergroup, the world’s richest region for manganese production.
Along with a favourable chemistry, what distinguishes the Kanye Project from even other areas within the Transvaal Supergroup is extremely friendly geology. Hosted in sedimentary rock, the mineralization at Kanye will require minimal infrastructure (meaning low cap-ex) and minimal processing (meaning low op-ex).
On July 5, 2018; the Company released its latest operations update on the progress at Kanye. In addition to drilling assays, the update also provided additional information on hydrometallurgical testing and the (potential) sale of mineralized material.
Robin Birchall, the CEO of Giyani, framed this news for investors.
It is starting to appear that we should be able to achieve the necessary grade for this material to suit our planned hydrometallurgical process. In particular, I would note that we are one of very few companies with the style and type of manganese deposit, which is amenable to the BEV [battery electric vehicle] metal market. I would like to commend our operational team in Botswana for keeping the program under budget and on time. Our experience in operating in Botswana has been very positive and we hope to continue to make fast progress with the support of the Botswana government. We look forward to updating the market with our maiden resource in the near future.
This is a very low-key management team, with CEO Birchall’s remarks illustrating this point. The drilling at Kanye has yielded intercepts starting at 30% purity, with assays ranging as high as an interval of 57.9% MnO. Previous sampling has yielded even higher grades (up to 73.4% MnO). The most-recent hydrometallurgical testing indicates that a grade of 30% MnO should be sufficient to make this deposit suitable for the BEV sector.
Total drilling at the Otse and K.Hill Prospects was below what had already been budgeted. This allowed Giyani to move a drill rig to the Lobatse Prospect to produce some initial core samples from this site as well.
Even more recently, the Company has announced a new colaboration agreement with the Geology Department at Rhodes University (South Africa) to conduct additional research into the geology at Kanye. The University has an academic interest in gaining a better understanding of regional geology. Giyani has a commercial interest in gaining the same understanding. Natural synergy.
With a total land package of 8,135 square kilometers, exploration to date has barely scratched the surface of this district-scale property. But there was one other interesting kernel of information for investors in the operations update.
Giyani has already been approached by market traders and manganese end-users concerning the sale of “raw” manganese ore, meaning without being processed to an EMM purity level. While management remains fully committed to developing the Kanye Project for the high end of the manganese market, the Company may choose to take advantage of this opportunity for near-term revenues to fund further development.
Mining investors may still not be familiar with the manganese market, but the manganese market is already familiar with Giyani Metals. Bargain-hungry investors should take note.
giyanimetals.com
FULL DISCLOSURE: Giyani Metals Corporation is a paid client of Stockhouse Publishing.