VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Exploration firm Giyani Gold will immediately undertake a field exploration campaign on its newly acquired brownfield Kgwakgwe Hill manganese mine, located in the Kanye basin of south-eastern Botswana, to test its thesis that manganese deposits exist in Botswana.

The TSX-V-listed company has acquired six new prospecting licences that cover the past producing mine after entering binding agreements with vendors Everbroad Investments and Marcelle Holdings to acquire an 88% interest in PL322/2016 (Kgwakgwe Hill licence) and 100% interest in PL336/2016 to PL340/2016 (next to Kgwakgwe Hill) by making cash payments totalling $75 000.

According to information provided by Giyani, the Kgwakgwe Hill project covers a supergene system containing high-grade manganese nodules. Manganese ore mined from 1957 to 1967 at Kgwakgwe Hill consisted almost entirely of such high-grade manganese oxide nodules grading 40% to 50% total manganese.

The deposit lies within the Kanye basin, which is underlain by rocks of the Transvaal Supergroup. The Transvaal Supergroup hosts roughly 80% of the world’s manganese reserves and has been identified in Botswana both under cover beneath Kalahari sands and in local outcrop within the project area. This deposit is of particular interest to Giyani because it is proof of concept that manganese deposits exist in Botswana and that the manganese displays simple, yet ideal chemical compositions and grade characteristics that would be attractive to battery manufacturers.

Giyani will focus its field exploration efforts on Kgwakgwe Hill and the surrounding area with the objective of outlining an economic deposit and developing a mining strategy to extract high-grade selected material at quantities tailored to meet the specifications of the new battery types developed today.

The acquisition of the Kgwakgwe Hill high-grade manganese project continues to expand the company’s pipeline of manganese projects in Botswana and Zambia, dovetailing into its strategy of acquiring raw materials for the growing battery industry.