HARARE – Zimbabwe’s state-owned Kuvimba Mining House has announced a $310 million deal with a consortium of British and Chinese investors to construct a lithium concentrator at its Sandawana mine.
The agreement marks a significant step in the country’s efforts to boost its lithium production capabilities.
Kuvimba revealed in a statement that it has entered into a binding Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) agreement with the consortium. The deal entails the construction of a 3 million metric ton per year ore processing plant at the Sandawana mine, a site previously operated by Rio Tinto for emerald mining until 1993.
A lithium concentrator, the initial phase in lithium processing, crushes and leaches ore to produce saleable concentrates. These concentrates are then further refined into lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide, which are essential components in battery manufacturing. Currently, Zimbabwe exports lithium concentrates to China for further processing as it lacks domestic refining facilities.
While Kuvimba did not disclose the names of the investors, it described them as “leading foreign British and Chinese companies in the global lithium market.” The BOT arrangement is set to expire after six years.
The new plant, expected to be commissioned within 18 months, will have an annual production capacity of 600,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate. This development comes as Zimbabwe, Africa’s top lithium producer, continues to attract substantial investments in its lithium sector. Since 2021, the country has secured over $1 billion in investments for lithium projects, primarily from Chinese battery metal firms.
Prominent Chinese companies with mining operations in Zimbabwe include Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group, Chengxin Lithium Group, Canmax Technologies, and Yahua Group. These investments underscore the increasing global interest in Zimbabwe’s lithium resources, crucial for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage.