AMN - BOTSWANA: Positive PEA for K.Hill project

Giyani Metals Corp has received positive results from a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the K.Hill manganese project in Botswana. The PEA presented an after-tax net present value (NPV) of C$379 million (US$285 million).

Highlights:

• PEA based on the 1.1 million tonnes inferred mineral resource estimate that the company announced on September 28, 2018;

• 9-year potential project operating life producing 245,000 tonnes of high-purity electrolytic manganese metal (HPEMM);

• Pre-tax NPV of C$491 million (US$369 million), using a 10% discount rate;

• Estimated C$144.4 million (US$108.5 million) in pre-production capital, C$13.2 million (US$9.9 million) in sustaining capital, C$23.7 million (US$17.8 million) in contingency at 15%, and C$6.7 million (US$5 million) closure costs for a total project capital of C$188 million (US$141.3 million);

• After-tax IRR of 90.6% and a 1.5-year payback period;

• Project economics are based on a projected average price of US$4,700/tonne for HPEMM of 99.9% manganese over the project life;

• Access to established logistics chain and infrastructure in a well-developed and mining friendly jurisdiction;

• Initial attractive project economics and growing market demand for battery-grade manganese products should attract multiple offers of project financing from the mining investment community; and

• Opportunities exist to improve returns through further enhancement of K.Hill mineral resources into a mineral reserve and the addition of other deposits within the greater Giyani licence area including the existing Otse and Lobatse deposits.

Giyani CEO Robin Birchall said: "We are extremely pleased with the completion of the PEA for K.Hill, our first deposit in Botswana, and we are even more delighted with the findings of this report which demonstrates the strong economic potential of the K.Hill manganese project.

"Our immediate next steps are to continue hydrometallurgical testing with electro-refining to produce high purity EMM samples for testing by battery makers.

"We will move forward with a definitive feasibility study in order to upgrade K.Hill into a mineral reserve through a targeted reserve drilling campaign, and ultimately develop a mine plan for the K.Hill project."

Immediate next steps: continue hydrometallurgical testing with electro-refining to produce HPEMM samples for testing by battery makers and upgrade K.Hill into a mineral reserve through a targeted reserve drilling campaign and a feasibility study

Further next steps: commence environmental impact assessment and feasibility study in preparation for the mine permit application in 2020.

http://giyanimetals.com/