Giyani Appoints New CFO, Receives Renewal of Final Licence in Botswana and Files Q3 2020 Interim Financial Results

TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV:EMM, GR:A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Omar Gonzalez as Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), effective November 17, 2020. In addition, the Company announces the successful renewal of prospecting licence (258/2017) in Botswana (“Renewed Prospecting Licence”). Also today, the Company announces the filing of its unaudited financial results for the three and nine-month period ended September 30, 2020, including development highlights from the K.Hill manganese project (“K.Hill”), in Botswana.

Executive Appointments

Mr. Gonzalez’s appointment follows the resignation of the Company’s former CFO, Mr. Aamer Siddiqui who resigned to pursue other business opportunities. Mr. Gonzalez is a senior employee of Marrelli Support Services Inc. (“Marrelli Services”). Marrelli Services provides the Company with CFO and accounting services.

Renewal of Prospecting Licence

Giyani’s wholly owned Botswana subsidiary, Menzi Battery Metals (Pty) Ltd (“Menzi”), was granted the Renewed Prospecting Licence by the Department of Mines on November 13, 2020. The Renewed Prospecting Licence relates to the Company’s Lobatse prospect.

K.Hill, Giyani’s flagship project and the Otse prospect licences were renewed in June this year, as announced on June 26, 2020. The Renewed Prospecting Licence has been granted for a term of 2 years, ending on December 31, 2022.

The Lobatse prospect has a similar geology to that of K.Hill, with a near-surface, stratiform manganese mineralisation hosted in a siliceous shale/sandstone. Lobatse is located near the South African border, 45km from K.Hill and is within trucking distance of K.Hill.

All of the Company’s Menzi’s prospecting licences have been renewed and represent a total licence area of 2,588km² as detailed in the following table:

Menzi’s Current Licences

Robin Birchall, CEO of Giyani Metals Corp. commented:

“We welcome Omar to the Giyani team and thank Aamer for his prior services.

I am delighted by the renewal of our Lobatse licence which completes the renewal of all of our licences in Botswana. The K.Hill Feasibility Study is progressing well and this renewal by the Government of Botswana represents a vote of confidence in the Company and its ability to continue its exploration and development program across the licences.”

Q3 2020 Interim Financial Results Filed on SEDAR

For complete details of the unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Statements and associated Management’s Discussion and Analysis please refer to the Company’s filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or the Company’s website (www.giyanimetals.com).

Q3 2020 and Subsequent to Quarter End Highlights

• Appointment of non-executive directors to Botswana subsidiary: on July 6, 2020, the Company announced the appointment of Mr. Thuso Dikgaka and Ms. Maureen Mokgautsane as non-executive directors to the board of Menzi.
  
  
• ESIA Submission to DEA: on August 26, 2020, the Company announced the initial submission of the K.Hill Scoping and Terms of Reference (“SToR”) to the Botswana Department of Environmental Affairs (“DEA”). Subsequently, on October 26, 2020 the Company submitted its response to the DEA’s comments on the SToR.
  
  
• Positive Results of the Processing Trade-off Study: on September 3, 2020, the Company announced that as part of the ongoing feasibility study (“FS”) work, a processing trade-off study was completed for its K.Hill project the results of the study showed that the sulphur dioxide based process is the optimal route and will be used in the FS. The change in the reductant process means that the Company has reduced the project’s process risk without any material increase in capital or operating costs. In addition, Tetra Tech, together with Royal IHC will be including the high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (“HPMSM”) as an additional product stream into the FS and the updated preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”) expected in first half of 2021.
  
  
• Closed Private Placement: On September 18, 2020, the Company completed a partially brokered private placement financing. The private placement was upsized on September 11, 2020 and fully subscribed and comprised of 9,600,000 units at a price of $0.125 per unit for gross proceeds of $1.2 million.
  
  
• Commenced 2020 Field Program at K.Hill: on September 21, 2020 the Company announced as part of the FS, the start of the 2020 field program that consists of (i) and infill drilling program intended to upgrade existing resources into the indicated resource category; (ii) geotechnical study to determine geotechnical parameters for the open-pit mine design; and (iii) geophysical study to assist with greater definition of the resource estimation. Subsequently, on November 2, 2020 the Company announced the commencement of the drilling program.
  
  
• Life Cycle Assessment Study including Carbon Footprint Evaluation: on October 2, 2020, in parallel to the ongoing FS and environmental and social impact assessment workstreams, the Company announced the appointment of Minviro, a UK based and globally recognized sustainability and life cycle assessment (“LCA”) consultant, to provide an International Organization for Standardization compliant LCA, benchmarked against that of the Company’s peer. Minviro’s work will also help to evaluate opportunities for the Company to achieve a low carbon footprint.
  

About Giyani

Giyani Metals Corp. is a mineral resource company focused on the development of its K.Hill, Lobatse & Otse manganese oxide projects in the Kanye Basin, Botswana, Africa. The Company's flagship K.Hill project is a near-surface deposit currently going through a feasibility study to produce high-purity electrolytic manganese metal and manganese sulphate, both key cathode ingredients for batteries in the expanding electric vehicle (EV) market.

Additional information and corporate documents may be found on www.sedar.com and on Giyani Metals Corp. Website: https://giyanimetals.com/.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp.

Robin Birchall, CEO

Contact:
Giyani Metals Corporation
Robin Birchall
CEO, Director
+447711313019
rbirchall@giyanimetals.com

Thomas Horton
VP, Business Development
+447866913207
thorton@giyanimetals.com

Neither 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 the 2020 field program, geotechnical study and geophysical study; upgrading of inferred resources to higher categories of confidence, and the completion of the FS.

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.

GIYANI METALS CORP.
www.giyanimetals.com TSXV:EMM