eBusiness Weekly
Oliver Kazunga
ZIMBABWE’S lithium industry is secure, taking into account that most of the projects are being undertaken by global giant investors, Mines and Mining Development Portfolio Committee chairperson Edmund Mkaratigwa has said.
The country is believed to hold the largest lithium reserves in Africa and the fifth-biggest deposits worldwide. Lithium is a major raw material in the production of batteries used in electric motor vehicles and other electronic gadgets such as laptops, cell phones and other portable electric gadgets. In recent years, the global demand for lithium has been surging which also means a boon for Zimbabwe which has received massive investment into that sector predominantly by Chinese global giant investors.
Such entities include Hauyou International Mining Limited that through its local subsidiary, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ) has commissioned a US$300 million lithium processing plant in Goromonzi District, Mashonaland East Province.
Moreso, a US$130 million Sabi Star Lithium project which is owned by MaxMind Investments, a subsidiary of a Chinese conglomerate, Eagle Canyon International Group Limited is being developed in Buhera District, Manicaland Province.
Production at the lithium mine is anticipated to start this year at a rate of 3 000 tonnes a day and the planned US$450 million lithium salt plant with an initial annual processing capacity of 30 000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide would be developed under the proposed US$13 billion mine-to-energy industrial park in Mapinga, Mashonaland West Province.
Last September, the Government and Eagle Canyon together with its Chinese counterpart, Pacific Goal Investment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of the mine-to-energy industrial park project in Mapinga, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe.
The industrial park that will include the construction of two 300MW power stations, a coking plant, graphite processing plant, a nickel-chromium alloy smelter, and a nickel sulphate plant would be established on a 5 000 hectare-piece of land from which 1 000ha would be utilised by Eagle Canyon.
Last month, about 20 Chinese investors with cumulative turnover of nearly US$40 billion were in the country expressing keen interest to invest in the proposed mine-to-energy industrial park. In an interview last week, Mkaratigwa expressed optimism that Zimbabwe’s lithium industry is sustainable going forward given that most of the investors in that sector are global giants.”
I am 100 percent positive that the future of the lithium sector in Zimbabwe is secure when we consider the global architecture of business and global markets of any product, let alone of minerals and the credibility of the companies that have signed MoUs to invest in the country.
“These firms compete fairly on the global market and in terms of their size, they are in the top 500 companies in terms of turnover, profitability, technology, knowledge and skills, economic contribution and so forth,” he said.
In Matabeleland South Province, a United Kingdom-headquartered multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company, Premier African Minerals has also commissioned a lithium and tantalum processing plant in Insiza District. Furthermore, in Masvingo Province, Bikita Minerals which is owned by Sinomine, a Chinese investor, announced last week that it has begun trial production of lithium on the newly constructed gravity separation and flotation plants.
The gravity plant has the capacity to produce two million tonnes of petalite concentrate annually while the flotation facility will process two million tonnes of spodumene concentrate.In the Midlands Province, China’s biggest stainless producer, Tsingshan Holdings Group Limited through one of its local subsidiaries, Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco) is building a US$1,5 billion integrated steel plant touted to be Africa’s largest steel works.The company has pledged to consolidate its investment in Zimbabwe by establishing a lithium concentrate plant with a production capacity of two million tonnes per year.
“If you do a due diligence or credibility check on these companies you would realise that they are global giants with state-of-the-art technologies that will take us to the next generation. “So in terms of that kind of investment l am positive the future of the lithium sector in Zimbabwe is quite secure but we need to encourage them to go all the way and embrace total value addition and beneficiation and ensure we have got manufacturing companies as extensions of their extraction companies,” said Mkaratigwa.
Speaking on the sidelines of the commissioning of the PLZ lithium concentrate plant by President Mnangagwa, a fortnight ago, China’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe His Excellency Zhou Ding said his country would forge ahead with investing in different sectors of the economy including the lithium industry.
“I am glad to see that under President Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is open for business” policy, our cooperation in the mining sector has enjoyed a good momentum. “Chinese companies have made or pledged to make billions of United States dollar investments in the mining industry in Zimbabwe.“Large-scaled investments include Dinson Iron and Steel Company, Arcadia Lithium Mine, Bikita Lithium Mine, and Sabi Star Lithium Mine, among others.
“The precious mineral resources which have stayed idle for years will soon be utilized to bring benefits to the people of Zimbabwe,” he said.
Amb Ding said China is a leading country in the global mining industry with the total output of its mineral production accounting for 31 percent of the world, and the total output value accounting for 17 percent of the globe. With their capital, technology, and management skills, Chinese companies can be good partners of the Zimbabwean Government and investors.
Over the years, he said Chinese mining companies have made great contributions to Zimbabwe’s economic and social development and have the potential to create tens of thousands of more job opportunities and hundreds of millions in United States dollar tax revenue for this country in the future.
“More importantly, these companies have also vigorously implemented corporate social responsibilities through building roads, clinics, schools, and water supply facilities for local communities to improve the well-being of the Zimbabwean people,” he said.
According to the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) 2023 second-quarter report, the country registered a 35,5 percent increase in investment to US$1,836 billion in the first half of the year buoyed by pro-business and investor-friendly policies the Second Republic has adopted.
The Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa which came into power in November 2017 has adopted the “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra with a view to attract investment in various sectors.
The investment licences were issued to countries that include China, America, Australia, Britain, Canada, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and Spain among others.
Since coming into power, the Second Republic has also been on an engagement and re-engagement drive with the international community marketing the country as an attractive investment destination after close to two decades of international isolation from the global village.
