TSX-V-listed Giyani Metals has started with advanced commissioning at its demonstration plant in Johannesburg.

The plant will help the company produce the first battery-grade manganese from ore sourced from Giyani’s K.Hill manganese project, in Botswana.

The demo plant materially advanced hot commissioning during January, with samples expected to be ready before March to be sent to potential offtakers for qualification trials.

The plant, which is built at a 1:10 scale of the planned commercial plant in Botswana, is also designed to identify opportunities for optimisation and derisk the main project as Giyani will better understand how the commercial plant will respond in advance of construction, commissioning and ramp-up.

The demo plant is helping to inform a definitive feasibility study on K.Hill, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Giyani has already received a special economic zone licence for its commercial plant, bringing with it fiscal and non-fiscal benefits such as a 5% corporate tax rate for the first ten years of production from the commercial plant.

The company will be attending the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town next week, with a full schedule of offtaker, investor and other strategic meetings.

CEO and president Charles FitzRoy says the company’s technical and operational teams are demonstrating excellent skill and resilience in navigating the usual late-stage commissioning challenges that occur when plants ramp up toward production.

The demo plant consists of nine process modules, each comprising a self-contained process system within a fixed frame. Some of the commissioning challenges have included power outages, water supply disruptions, technical challenges with the commissioning of the control system and the holiday break which disrupted reagent and final equipment supply.

Giyani is also undertaking metallurgical testwork to further optimise the flowsheet, particularly to reduce reagent use and improve operational costs.