The project area is underlain by the Kalahari Manganese Field (KMF), the largest known land-based manganese deposit in the world It is the largest known land-based manganese deposit in the world. The KMF is comprised of five erosional relicts of the manganese bearing Hotazel Formation of the Paleoproterozoic Transvaal Supergroup. The manganese ore is of sedimentary origin.

The Hotazel Formation, which is the host rock to the manganese ores of the KMF, is composed of three (3) symmetrical iron formation hematite-lutite-braunite-lutite sedimentary cycles that can be traced across the entire KMF and that display a remarkably uniform fine-scale litho-stratigraphy. Geological surveys for the project have indicated other minerals found in the Kalahari Manganese Field formation which include sand, clay, limestone, tillite, quartzite, red and grey shales, dolomite, iron ore.

The mine is an underground mine and the ore body is accessed by means of a twin decline, one of which accommodates the conveyor belt and the employees, material. The second decline is mainly used as the return airway and serve as the statuary second outlet. The ore is crushed underground following which, a conveyor belt system transport the ore out of the mine via one of the twin declines to a surface stockpile.

The mining method is bord and pillar stoping.

The beneficiation process starts with Ore Preparation Plant crushing the ore to the smallest granules. Crushers are capable of processing to go through 6 mm screens and then conveyed through to sinter plant for further processing.

The Kalagadi sinter plant was built to locally beneficiate the mined manganese ore prior to transport. In the beneficiation process the Mn content is increased from 38 % to approximately 47%. The production capacity of the sinter plant is up to 9000 t of sinter per day.

The green sinter (crushed ore blended with 10 % coke) is loaded onto a conveyor belt. There, the green sinter is exposed to the heat of a diesel burner in the ignition hood. The hot air is sucked
through the sinter and the conveyor belt to heat the ore. The coke content in the green sinter ignites when reaching approximately 600 °C. The additional heat provided by the coke combustion increases the temperature to approximately 1200 °C for the sintering process.
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