Giyani Provides K.Hill Project Update on Preliminary Metallurgical Test Work Results and Field Programs
![Giyani Provides K.Hill Project Update on Preliminary Metallurgical Test Work Results and Field Programs](https://www.minenportal.de/media/goldseiten-news.jpg)
TORONTO, June 17, 2021 - Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV:EMM, GR:A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the preliminary results from its metallurgical test work undertaken by Mintek in South Africa and its ongoing field programs at the K.Hill manganese project ("K.Hill Project") in Botswana as part of its feasibility study work ("FS"). The ongoing field programmes include exploration drilling programs at an extension of the existing K.Hill Project orebody ("K.Hill Extension") and the Otse manganese prospect ("Otse").
Highlights
- Test work has shown that high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate ("HPMSM") with less than 1% total impurity and manganese content of more than 31.5% has been achieved. The remainder of the metallurgical test program will focus on further impurity reductions.
- K.Hill Project FS reserve infill drilling is complete and assay results and an ore reserve estimate are both expected during Q3 2021.
- K.Hill Project FS in-pit and civil geotechnical drilling along with sterilization drilling in the designated plant and infrastructure areas is progressing as planned.
- At K.Hill Extension, 13 of the currently planned 32 reverse circulation ("RC") drill holes have been completed to date.
- At Otse, two orientation geophysical studies have been completed and an induced polarization ("IP") program will commence this month.
Robin Birchall, CEO of the Company, commented:
"I am delighted to announce the progress we have made in the metallurgical test work so far. The progress in each of the test steps has achieved targeted objectives. I am also happy to report on the completion of the reserve drilling campaign and the progress on the mineral reserve estimation which will culminate in the announcement of our maiden reserve in the third quarter. Exploration drilling continues on the K.Hill Extension and we will commence our IP geophysical program at Otse imminently with results from both of these exploration programs expected during the summer."
Preliminary Metallurgical Test Work Results
Further to the Company's press release dated February 5, 2021, the metallurgical test work undertaken by Mintek in South Africa has successfully produced HPMSM with less than 1% total impurity and with a manganese content of more than 31.5%. These preliminary results were achieved by the evaporative crystallization of a purified solution. Completed activities include leach optimisation, bulk leach, base metal precipitation, iron and aluminium precipitation, representing a number of the initial steps of the process flowsheet to produce HPMSM from the K.Hill Project ore. Ongoing purification and crystallization test work will focus on further reducing the total impurity in the pregnant crystallizer feed solution to remove trace quantities of deleterious elements. Comminution test work, the first step in the ore treatment process, will also be completed as part of the overall testwork program.
Highlights of the completed test work include:
- 94% Mn extraction after reductive acid leach;
- Fe and Al removal after neutralisation and precipitation is 100% and 99.5%, respectively;
- secondary purification kinetic tests show Ni, Cu, Co and Zn can be removed to detection limits; and
- sulphuric acid consumption reduced to 90 kg/t of ore compared with earlier estimate of 333 kg/t.
K.Hill Project FS Reserve Infill Drilling
Further to the Company's press release dated April 1, 2021, the reserve infill drilling program required to update the mineral resource estimation ("MRE") has now been completed. 90 holes totalling 3,341.5 m were drilled and a total of 3,318 samples (inclusive of QA/QC samples) were collected and submitted for analysis. Geological logging and data collection from the RC chips has also now been completed.
Ongoing activities from the data collection program include:
- results of the geochemical analysis of the final batch of samples (batch 6 of 6) at SGS Laboratories, South Africa ("SGS");
- rock density measurements from outcrop and RC chip samples, and
- down hole bulk density logging.
These rock density programs are required to build a reliable database of density data to be used in the block model and MRE. All of this work will culminate in an independent mineral reserve being reported for the K.Hill Project during Q3 2021.
K.Hill Project FS Geotechnical Studies
The FS requires both a geotechnical mine and geotechnical civil program. The geotechnical mine program will be used to determine rock strength parameters for pit and mine designs and the geotechnical civil work will investigate soil and ground conditions for infrastructure development at the proposed location of the processing plant and tailings storage facility ("TSF"). These programs require core drilling and trial pit excavations. For the geotechnical mine study, six of ten planned holes have been completed to date; the core from these holes will be logged, sampled and submitted for test work. For the geotechnical civil study, all 44 trial pits have been excavated, logged and sampled. 11 diamond core drill holes remain to be completed at the proposed processing plant and TSF locations. Samples from both the trial pits and core drilling will be submitted for test work.
K.Hill Project FS Sterilization
The sterilization drilling campaign was initiated after near surface manganese oxide ("MnO") material was recovered from one of the trial pits in the area intended for the processing plant. Three RC drill holes will be drilled at each of the plant, TSF and waste rock dump areas for a total of nine. Two of the three holes at the plant area have been completed. The holes were drilled to 50m depth and aside from a thin intersection of low grade, secondary enriched MnO in the surface material, no mineralized Mn-shale body has been intersected to date.
K.Hill Extension Exploration
13 of a planned 32 exploration RC holes located towards the south of the K.Hill Project deposit have been completed, representing 923.5 m of drilling to date. A total of 335 samples (inclusive of QA/QC samples) have been collected from seven of the 13 completed holes. Samples are collected where MnO mineralization can be visually identified and an indicative grade can be obtained using a portable x-ray fluorescence analyser ("XRF"). The samples will be submitted for analysis by XRF after borate fusion at SGS.
Otse Exploration
Two geophysical orientation studies were completed at Otse using ground penetrating radar and IP survey. The studies were completed over known mineralized outcrop in order to determine the optimal survey parameters and define a characteristic signature of the mineralized material. While both methods were successful and identified anomalies, the Company has decided to progress with an IP survey. The definition of the scope of work and tendering process is currently ongoing, after which the selected contractor will mobilize.
About Giyani
Giyani is a mineral resource company focused on the advancement of its manganese assets within the Kanye Basin in south-eastern Botswana, Africa (the "Kanye Basin Prospects"). The Kanye Basin Prospects include the past producing Kgwakgwe Hill mine and project, referred to as the K.Hill Project, the Otse and the Lobatse manganese prospects. The Company's strategy is to become a low-carbon footprint producer of high-purity electrolytic manganese precursor materials used by battery manufacturers for the expanding electric vehicle market.
Additional information and corporate documents may be found on www.sedar.com and on Giyani Metals Corp. website at https://giyanimetals.com/.
NI 43-101 Disclosures
EUR ING Andrew Carter BSc, CEng, MIMMM, MSAIMM, SME Technical Director Coffey Geotechnics Ltd ("Coffey"), A Tetra Tech Company, is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release.
Mr. Luhann Theron, MSc., Pr.Sci.Nat. 400184/15, of Lambda Tau is registered with the SACNASP. Mr. Theron is currently at site and is a qualified person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Theron is the Chief Geologist for the Company and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content contained in this press release but is not independent for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About Coffey A Tetra Tech Company
Tetra Tech is a leading provider of high-end consulting and engineering services for projects worldwide. With 20,000 associates working together, Tetra Tech provides clear solutions to complex problems in water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, energy, and international development. For more information about Tetra Tech, please visit www.tetratech.com
Giyani appointed Tetra Tech, alongside SRK Consulting, in late 2019 to produce the K.Hill Project FS, which is expected to be completed later in 2021.
About Lambda Tau
Lambda Tau Botswana is a locally based geological services and exploration consulting services provider, offering services across Southern Africa. For more information visit https://www.lambdatau.co.za
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp.
Robin Birchall, CEO
Contact:
Robin Birchall CEO, Director
+44 7711 313019
rbirchall@giyanimetals.com
Judith Webster
Corporate Secretary and Investor Relations
+1 416 453 8818
jwebster@giyanimetals.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. persons," as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act ("U.S. Persons"), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities to, or for the account of benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. Persons.
Forward Looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani expects to occur, are "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. Specific forward-looking statements and forward-looking information herein includes completion of receipt of TSXV approval for the private placement and completion of the private placement.
All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyani's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs.
Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyani's ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of inferred mineral resources in economic estimation; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licenses and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyani's forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information or statements.
Giyani's forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyani's financial statements and related MD&A, all of which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.