Not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or for dissemination in the United States
TORONTO, April 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV: EMM, GR: A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company"), the developer of the K.Hill battery-grade manganese project in Botswana (“K.Hill” or the “Project”), is pleased to announce the submission of the Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) to the Department of Environmental Affairs for Botswana (“DEA”).
Highlights
- The EIS has been submitted to the DEA for review and comment as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) process.
- The EIA process is a key step to the application pathway for a 25-year mining licence (“Mining Licence”) for K.Hill.
EIA Update
As part of the EIA process, on March 31, 2023, Giyani’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Menzi Battery Metals (Pty) Limited (“Menzi”), submitted the EIS for the Project to the DEA for review. The EIS was prepared in compliance with Section 9 of the Botswana Environmental Assessment Act (“Act”) by Loci Environmental (Pty) Ltd (“Loci”), a Botswana-based independent environmental consultancy.
In accordance with the Act, the DEA will now review the EIS against national requirements and respond to Menzi with any clarifications, comments and/or requirements for additional information or studies. Once the statutory review period, initially of 14 days, and all comments are addressed to the satisfaction of the DEA, the EIS will be made available for public disclosure. Subject to all concerns being addressed, the EIA process will culminate in the issue of an Environmental Authorisation from the DEA. Issuance of the Environmental Authorisation will enable the Company to apply for a 25-year Mining Licence for K.Hill from the Botswana Department of Mines (“DoM”).
In addition to compliance with national EIA requirements, Giyani is committed to conforming with the requirements of the international lender communities and Good International Industry Practice (GIIP), including the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”) Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability (IFC 2012) and Equator Principles 4 (EPA 2020).
Jonathan Henry, Executive Chair of the Company, commented:
“The submission of our Environmental Impact Statement marks a major milestone, enabling the K.Hill Project to progress to the next stage of its development. Botswana is a well-established mining jurisdiction and, therefore, we remain confident of a speedy process leading to the issuance of an Environmental Authorisation and then on to the application and granting of the Mining Licence. The timing of this process will depend on several factors, but we remain positive that the Mining Licence may be granted within the next twelve months.”
About Giyani
Giyani’s mission is to become a sustainable, low carbon producer of battery materials for the electric vehicle (“EV”) industry. The Company has developed a hydrometallurgical process to produce high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate, a lithium-ion battery cathode precursor material critical for EVs, directly from ore from its manganese oxide deposits in Botswana, wholly-owned by its Botswana subsidiary Menzi Battery Metals (Pty) Limited. The Company’s assets include K.Hill and the Otse and Lobatse manganese prospects, each of which has seen historical mining activities.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp.
Jonathan Henry, Executive Chair
Contact:
Jonathan Henry
Executive Chair
+44 7798 801 783
jhenry@giyanimetals.com
Danny Keating
President & Chief Executive Officer
dkeating@giyanimetals.com
George Donne
VP Business Development
+44 7866 591 897
gdonne@giyanimetals.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. persons," as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act ("U.S. Persons"), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities to, or for the account of benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. Persons.
Forward Looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur.
All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyani's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs.
Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyani's ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of inferred mineral resources in economic estimation; risks in how the world-wide economic and social impact of COVID-19 is managed; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licences and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyani's forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information or statements.
Giyani's forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyani's Annual Information Form, all of which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
