TSX-V-listed Giyani Metals, focused on Botswana, is streamlining its board of directors as it transitions into a manganese battery metals producer.
Effective May 24, Jonathan Henry, Michael Jones, John Petersen, and Nicola Spooner have resigned from the board.
The remaining directors are President and CEO Danny Keating, Alex Azpitarte, Thuso Dikgaka, and Stephanie Hart.
Mark Burnett, Director of Mining Investments at London-based RAB Capital, will join the board as interim chairperson.
The Giyani board has initiated a search for new directors with specific expertise in electric vehicle (EV) battery product marketing, project financing, and capital markets.
This process is expected to be completed before the next AGM, at which point Burnett will step down as interim chairperson.
The streamlined board will focus on overseeing Giyani’s strategy, particularly the construction and commissioning of a demonstration plant in South Africa, Burnett stated.
Recently, Giyani secured $26 million in financing from two strategic partners, the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa and the Sustainable Resources Fund.
This funding will advance its battery-grade manganese project, K.Hill, in Botswana, to the construction phase, following the successful operation of the demonstration plant and completion of a definitive feasibility study by the first half of next year.
The 2023 preliminary economic assessment for K.Hill is based on an annual production capacity of 80,000 tons of battery-grade high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM).
The 600 kg/day demonstration plant will enable offtaker testing of Giyani’s HPMSM product in the second half of this year.
