JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – High purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) has reportedly been successfully produced by Canadian company Giyani Metals at its demonstration plant in Johannesburg.

Following the production of high purity manganese oxide (HPMO) earlier this year, dual product offering capability is positioning Giyani to supply products to a broad range of potential future battery technologies.

The demonstration plant has provided information described as being “invaluable” and a derisked process flowsheet will now be carried forward into the design and operation of the planned full-scale battery-grade manganese project in Botswana. 

On track for completion by end of the first quarter of 2026 is a definitive feasibility study to NI 43-101 standards, Canada’s regulatory framework that sets the rules for how public companies must disclose scientific and technical information about their mineral projects.

HPMSM is a refined precursor material used in the production of cathode powders for lithium-ion batteries deployed in battery electric vehicles and HPMSM off-taker qualification trials are now due to begin, ahead of the construction of an 80 000 t/y HPMSM plant at K Hill, some 60 km southwest of Gaborone.

“The demo plant has been invaluable in informing the new optimised process flowsheet,” Giyani interim executive chairperson Nigel Robinson stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

“With the successful production of both HPMSM and HPMO, we have demonstrated our dual product offering capability, placing us in a strong position to supply the dynamic and evolving chemical requirements of the battery and energy storage market,” Robinson added.

The R10-milion funding that the TSXV-listed company secured from private equity fund ARCH Sustainable Resources fulfilled a key condition for the drawdown of a $16-million convertible loan facility from South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation, with the combined $26-million being deployed to progress towards to a final investment decision on the planed commercial battery-grade manganese plant at K Hill.

As reported in Mining Weekly last month, Giyani has received a letter of intent from Export-Import Bank of the United States for up to $225-million long-term debt with a repayment period of up to 15 years for construction of the project.

This non-binding agreement was described as exemplification of the growing recognition of the importance of battery manganese in electric vehicles

Once operational, it is envisaged that K Hill could provide various African and global markets, including those of solar energy, data centres, power grids, battery energy storage and uninterruptable power supply systems, with manganese byproducts going to agricultural sectors.