The largest lithium mine is located in the Bikita mine in Harare with reserves of 10.8 million tons of lithium ore. The Zimbabwean government has introduced a ban on the exportation of lithium to encourage local growth.
Zimbabwe has the largest lithium reserves in Africa and the fifth largest in the world. It has many lithium greenfield projects in Goromonzi, Mberengwa, Shurugwi, Zvishavane, Bikita and Mutoko.
“The Arcadia Lithium Mine is expected to reach an annual production of 2.5 million tons of lithium ore after the mine is deployed, which would roughly equate to US$3 billion in exports.”
60 per cent of Zimbabwe’s export earnings are from exports in mineral resources, while mining contributes 16% to its GDP, according to the London School of Economics report of 2021.
Order 213 of 2022 promulgated last week, banned the exportation of unprocessed lithium.
“…No lithium bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country except under written permit of the Minister.”
“On written application by any party— wishing to export samples of lithium-bearing ore or unbeneficiated lithium for assaying outside Zimbabwe; or to a miner or exporter of lithium upon production of written proof satisfactory to the Minister that there are exceptional circumstances justifying the exportation in question and that the lithium bearing ores or unbeneficiated lithium in question have been valued in terms of section 12D(3) of the Value Added Tax Act [Chapter 23:12] for purposes of payment of the export tax on unbeneficiated lithium..” read part of the SI
“…any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any order or with the terms and conditions of any permit issued to him or her under an order shall be guilty of an offence and liable to— (i) a fine not exceeding level 9 or twice the value of the base minerals in respect of which the offence is committed, whichever is the greater; or (ii) imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years; or to both such fine and such imprisonment,” further read parts of the SI.
Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (CoMZ) and Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) lauded the ban and added that it was a step in the right direction to push for the development of the ‘green metal’ mining sector in the country.
In an interview published by Daily News, ZMF president Henrietta Rushwaya said the mining of lithium was marred by leakages that have led to revenue loss, which has compromised the attainment of the US$12 billion mining economy by 2023.
“There are lots of leakages and the government continues to lose out on revenues. As a country we are not realizing the true value of the resource that we possess as a nation.
“We want the participation of serious players in the beneficiation process so as to create jobs for local indigenous Zimbabweans for us to attain the US$12 billion mining economy target,” she said.
“If we continue exporting raw lithium we will go nowhere. We want to see lithium batteries being developed in the country,” he said. “We have done this in good faith for the growth of industry,” said deputy mining minister Polite Kambamura.
Lithium is the most crucial component due to its high electrochemical content. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are used in most personal electronics and, most crucially, electric cars, contain lightweight metal.
In like manner, Indonesia banned the exportation of bauxite, as part of a strategy to develop indigenous mineral refining and processing industry. The ban on exports of bauxite, the world’s primary source of aluminium, will take effect in June 2023.
“The government is committed to continually building sovereignty in our natural resources sector and add value to domestic in order to open as many jobs as possible, increase foreign exchange [revenue] and create an even economic growth,” the Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said.
Indonesia was the world’s fifth-largest producer of bauxite in 2020 and had the sixth-most reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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