Name of the Project
K.Hill battery-grade manganese project.

Location
Botswana.

Project Owner/s
Battery metal development company Giyani Metals Corporation.

Project Description
K.Hill will be one of the biggest high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) projects in the world. 

HPMSM is a refined precursor material used in the production of cathode powders for lithium-ion batteries deployed in electric vehicles.

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) published in July 2023 evaluates a base case scenario that considers a single production line with a feed capacity of 200 000 t/y to process high-purity manganese oxide (HPMO) material to produce HPMSM over a 57-year life-of-project (LoP). The LoP includes a 49-year life-of-mine plus 8 years of stockpile rehandling.

The PEA also evaluates an upside case, which assumes the construction of an additional production line from Year 5 of operations to increase total feed capacity to 400 000 t/y, reducing the LoP to 31 years.

The project includes a crushing facility, including a run-of-mine pad and stockpiles, a three-stage crushing plant and a crushed material bin. It also includes a processing area, including grinding, extraction, purification, fluoride polishing, crystallisation, product storage and handling; water treatment, reagent storage and tails handling; a sulphur dioxide plant; plant infrastructure and utilities, including steam and air plants; and low-voltage switch rooms.

A 4.5 MW solar plant covering 7.6 ha will be built 1.2 km west-northwest of the processing plant entrance gate. The large-scale demonstration plant that emulates the continuous process of the proposed full-scale K.Hill commercial plant is under construction in South Africa. The plant will validate the process flowsheet, mitigate commercial processing plant risk and facilitate offtake qualification.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.21-billion and an internal of return of 33%, with a payback period of two years.

Capital Expenditure
$282.64-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction of the commercial facility is planned to start in 2027, with production ramp-up from 2028/29.

Latest Developments
The company is in ongoing discussions with offtakers for battery-grade manganese products, including HPMO and HPMSM, produced at its K.Hill project.

Giyani says the demonstration plant is currently on track to produce HPMSM in the third quarter of this year, while the definitive feasibility study (DFS) remains on track for completion in the first quarter of 2026.

Meanwhile, Giyani notes that the production ramp-up phase continues to advance and the team continues to work progressively towards first production of HPMSM in the third quarter of this year.

The learnings from the demonstration plant will support further optimisation of the anticipated design and engineering, and process flowsheet, which aims to reduce the commercial plant’s operating cost and carbon profile.

The inputs from the plant operations will be used in the DFS.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
SRK Consulting (feasibility study); Mintek (metallurgical testwork); Tetra Tech (metallurgical testwork programme); Wood (lead DFS consultant); and Minopex, a DRA Global Company (demonstration plant operation).

Contact Details for Project Information
Giyani Metals Corporation, email info@giyanimetals.com.