Botswana has granted Giyani Metals (TSXV: EMM) a 15-year mining licence for its flagship Kgwakwe Hill (K.Hill) project, positioning the company to become the country’s first producer of battery-grade manganese.
K.Hill is a near-surface manganese oxide deposit located about 60 km southwest of Gaborone, Botswana’s capital.
The miner will process Mn oxide material on-site to produce high-purity manganese sulphate, making it one of the few battery-grade Mn projects outside China, which controls 90% of global high-purity manganese supply.
The K.Hill mine is set to produce 80,000 tonnes of high-purity Mn sulphate monohydrate annually, with a projected lifespan of 57 years. Over this period, the mine is expected to supply more than 3.5 million tonnes of high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate to the electric vehicle industry.
“The next step is production of battery-grade manganese from our demonstration plant, which is under construction in Johannesburg, South Africa, and due to be commissioned during Q4 of this year,” the company said in a statement.
Botswana, the world’s biggest diamond producer by value, is looking to diversify within the mining sector with minerals such as copper, nickel, coal and iron ore.
Shares of Giyani Metals rose 6.7% by 12:10 p.m. EDT in Toronto. The miner has a market capitalization of C$22 million ($16 million).
