Could you introduce Giyani to our readers?

Giyani is a TSXV-listed company developing a battery-grade manganese project in Botswana. On our 2,000 km² license area in the country, we have four at or near surface manganese oxide deposits. Currently, we are working on a DFS to be released in 2025. The mining license, environmental authorization and surface rights for the mining area are in place. Our demonstration plant to produce high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM) or more commonly referred to as battery-grade manganese, is expected to make first product by the end of 2024. 

Could you elaborate on the demo plant? 

Over the past five years, we developed a proprietary process to produce HPMSM, the preferred manganese battery precursor for manganese containing electric EV batteries. The demo plant in Johannesburg is capable of continuous production, allowing us to demonstrate we can deliver a consistent product – key for product qualification, as we will be sending the product to offtakers like big car companies to ultimately secure the off-take agreements that will form a big part of our project financing once the DFS is released. 

What makes Giyani a good investment?

First is our location. Botswana is ranked at the top of the Fraser Institute in Africa for a reason. We received both the environmental authorization and the mining license within nine months since submittal, when it takes a lot longer in most other parts of the world. Our ore bodies also make for a very straightforward project. We have at surface, already weathered, low-impurity manganese oxide deposits that can be leached using our proprietary process to obtain battery grade purity material of 99.97% purity. This process is the heart of Giyani. Giyani is perfectly positioned for the ex-China manganese demand. We have the right team and the right product in the right jurisdictions to get our product to the market quickly, and timed to start producing when the manganese demand is forecast to increase significantly, roughly from 2027 onwards.