Reuters | November 1, 2023 |
Zimbabwe is one of the top 10 lithium producers but currently produces only a fraction of the worldwide total.
(Image courtesy of Prospect Resources | Investor Presentation at Mining Indaba, Feb. 2018. )
Zimbabwe earned $209 million from lithium exports in the first nine months of 2023, nearly treble last year’s earnings, Mines Minister Zhemu Soda said on Wednesday, as Chinese-driven mining and processing projects take off.
Africa’s top lithium producer, Zimbabwe hopes demand for the mineral, which is key for renewable energy storage, will help revive its ailing economy.
Zimbabwe earned $209 million from lithium exports in the first nine months of 2023, nearly treble last year’s earnings, Mines Minister Zhemu Soda said on Wednesday, as Chinese-driven mining and processing projects take off.
Africa’s top lithium producer, Zimbabwe hopes demand for the mineral, which is key for renewable energy storage, will help revive its ailing economy.
Lithium is set to become Zimbabwe’s third biggest mineral export after gold and platinum group metals, which registered $2.46 billion and $2.27 billion in export receipts last year.
“The revenue generated from the export of lithium grew from $1.8 million in 2018 to $70 million in 2022. By September 2023, a total of $209 million had been realised from lithium exports,” Soda said at a mining conference in Bulawayo.
Chinese firms, including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group, Chengxin Lithium Group, Yahua Group and Canmax Technologies, have spent more than $1 billion over the past two years to acquire and develop lithium projects in Zimbabwe.
Most of these companies have built processing plants commissioned this year and are shipping lithium concentrates to China for further processing.
Zimbabwe’s government banned raw lithium exports last year, as it seeks to get more value from the mineral.
Other major producers are expected to start operations in Zimbabwe in 2024 as the country seeks to expand output, Soda said.
Lithium prices in China, the top consumer of the battery metal, have been on a downtrend for much of this year.
(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono — editing by Nelson Banya and Mark Potter)
China to invest $2.8 billion in Zimbabwe in lithium, energy
Bloomberg News | November 1, 2023 |
China Mining Resources bought Bikita Minerals in 2022 and has spent $300 million to expand petalite, a lithium aluminum phyllosilicate mineral, and spodumene capacity. (Image courtesy of Sinomine Zimbabwe Bikita Mining.)
Chinese companies were awarded licenses in the third quarter that could see $2.79 billion of investment flow into Zimbabwe, mostly in mining and energy as the government pushes to develop some of Africa’s biggest lithium deposits and end power outages.
The planned investment, a tenfold increase on the $271 million pledged in the same period last year, dwarfs that of its closest rival, the United Arab Emirates, which eon licenses to invest $498.5 million. The total value of investment licenses awarded was $3.41 billion.
Chinese applications “were the most by number and investment value with mining being their most preferred sector followed by the manufacturing sector,” the Zimbabwe Development Agency, the state-owned unit tasked with securing investment, said in a report on Wednesday. China accounted for more than two thirds of the 180 applications.
Chinese companies have been buying lithium mines, which supply a key component for the batteries used in electric vehicles. They are also involved in revamping and building power plants in the country. Of the planned investment $2.8 billion is slated for energy projects and $411 million for mining.
One China-backed project is a $2.3 billion planned energy and mining complex that will process minerals in Mapinga while another is 500 megawatt solar energy project
The mines ministry said Wednesday the country has earned $209 million in revenue from lithium exports in the nine months to September.
(By Ray Ndlovu and Godfrey Marawanyika)
Bloomberg News | November 1, 2023 |
China Mining Resources bought Bikita Minerals in 2022 and has spent $300 million to expand petalite, a lithium aluminum phyllosilicate mineral, and spodumene capacity. (Image courtesy of Sinomine Zimbabwe Bikita Mining.)
Chinese companies were awarded licenses in the third quarter that could see $2.79 billion of investment flow into Zimbabwe, mostly in mining and energy as the government pushes to develop some of Africa’s biggest lithium deposits and end power outages.
The planned investment, a tenfold increase on the $271 million pledged in the same period last year, dwarfs that of its closest rival, the United Arab Emirates, which eon licenses to invest $498.5 million. The total value of investment licenses awarded was $3.41 billion.
Chinese applications “were the most by number and investment value with mining being their most preferred sector followed by the manufacturing sector,” the Zimbabwe Development Agency, the state-owned unit tasked with securing investment, said in a report on Wednesday. China accounted for more than two thirds of the 180 applications.
Chinese companies have been buying lithium mines, which supply a key component for the batteries used in electric vehicles. They are also involved in revamping and building power plants in the country. Of the planned investment $2.8 billion is slated for energy projects and $411 million for mining.
One China-backed project is a $2.3 billion planned energy and mining complex that will process minerals in Mapinga while another is 500 megawatt solar energy project
The mines ministry said Wednesday the country has earned $209 million in revenue from lithium exports in the nine months to September.
(By Ray Ndlovu and Godfrey Marawanyika)
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