Lithium Showdown: Zimbabwe Sets March 2024 Deadline for Battery-Grade Plans

Ignites Race Among Miners to Secure Future in Clean Energy Boom

Zimbabwe is urging lithium miners to submit plans for local battery-grade lithium production by March 2024, aiming to capitalize on the rising demand for the clean energy mineral. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube revealed this initiative, emphasizing that the government considers the current concentrate production insufficient for beneficiation, emphasizing the need for lithium carbonate production.

The country, Africa’s leading lithium producer, banned lithium ore exports last year and imposed a 5% export tax on concentrates. Lithium, crucial for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage, has become Zimbabwe’s third-largest mineral export, earning $209 million in the first nine months of 2023.

Ncube added that no new licenses would be granted without approved beneficiation plans, encouraging value addition. Chinese miners, attracted by Zimbabwe’s significant hard-rock lithium reserves, have invested over $1 billion in the sector. Sinomine Resource Group has already begun feasibility studies for battery-grade lithium production in Zimbabwe.