Government’s ban on the export of lithium concentrates and other raw minerals is beginning to deliver positive results, after its call for value addition and beneficiation, with lithium producers complying with this policy.
Mines and Mining Development minister Engineer Polite Kambamura during a tour of the Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe mining plant in Goromonzi this Friday.
The minister further said Government is still sticking with the ban on lithium exportation.
Engineer Kambamura said the government is not going to rest until the country starts producing lithium batteries.
“We are here today to witness a milestone that the company has made for the construction of the first lithium plant, lithium sulfate plant in Africa, behind me, and this one behind me in Zimbabwe.
“We are very happy as government witnessing this milestone under the Second Republic, especially government called for value addition and beneficiation.
“Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe is a sole lithium sulphate plant owned by China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt.
“The plant has a storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes of lithium sulphate per annum, and currently they are operating at 60 percent capacity, and we are looking forward to seeing them ramping up the production efficiency in the first quarter of 2027.
“Maybe by then they will be producing 80 percent of the total capacity.
“So, this is the largest three-line single-phase lithium sulfate plant in Africa.
“And the company is going further also to build the lithium carbonate plant, and currently it’s now at 90 percent in construction.
“We are looking forward to seeing the completion of these plants in August this year.
“So, they will be producing lithium sulphate and then lithium carbonate.
“This is a good show, especially considering that the government is not going to rest until you produce the third lithium battery in Africa.
“That’s where we are going, so all the salts, talk of lithium sulphate, now we are going to lithium carbonate.
“The next step will be getting lithium batteries in Zimbabwe, so that’s where we are going.
“We will rest only after we can now produce, or will be able to produce lithium batteries and solar panels.
“So that’s the trust of government to produce big products of lithium,” he said.
