Giyani Metals, a Canadian company developing the Kanye Manganese Project, is making significant strides toward producing its first battery-grade manganese from the flagship Kgwakgwe Hill Project in Kanye, Botswana.
The company is currently in the production ramp-up phase (C5 Commissioning) at its multimillion-pula demonstration plant in Johannesburg..
The team is diligently working toward achieving its first high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM) production.
In January 2025, the demo plant made substantial progress during the hot commissioning phase (C4 Commissioning).
The C4 and C5 commissioning phases naturally overlap in the final stages of the process, ensuring a seamless transition toward full-scale production.
Giyani remains on track to produce its first product samples in Q1 2025, which will be supplied to potential off-takers for qualification trials—an essential step in securing long-term offtake agreements and project financing.
The demo plant plays a critical role in refining the project by identifying optimization opportunities, improving design, and minimizing risk.
It allows Giyani to evaluate the expected performance of its future commercial plant, which will be built in Botswana, before full-scale construction and commissioning.
Additionally, the plant enables final optimization of engineering design and process flows, focusing on reducing operating costs and carbon emissions.
This work is being carried out alongside the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), scheduled for completion in 2025.
In January, Giyani secured a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) license for its planned commercial plant in Botswana, located near its 100% owned manganese ore sources.
This SEZ status provides both fiscal and non-fiscal benefits, including a reduced corporate tax rate of 5% for the first 10 years of production, increasing to 10% thereafter—a significant advantage not factored into the company’s 2023 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
Giyani Metals President and CEO Charles FitzRoy expressed confidence in the project’s progress, stating:
“The demo plant is advancing to the production ramp-up phase, and our team continues to demonstrate skill and resilience in overcoming late-stage commissioning challenges.
We remain on track to achieve first HPMSM production in Q1 2025. The insights gained from this process reinforce our strategic decision to construct a demo plant at a 1:10 scale of our planned commercial facility.”
