How Can Zimbabwe Profit From Lithium If China Is The Processor?

2025-07-24 05:01:25

(MENAFN- Asia Times) Zimbabwe has the largest lithium reserves on the African continent . Lithium has been mined since the colonial period in the 1950s . It's a critical part of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are essential for the electric vehicle industry . Globally, the lithium-ion battery market is worth US$78.9 billion and is likely to amount to US$349.6 billion by 2034.

In 2021, there was a new lithium rush in Zimbabwe because of increased global demand for the mineral. Today, most of Zimbabwe's lithium mines are owned by Chinese mining companies like Sinomine , Zhejiang Huayo Cobalt , Chengxin Lithium , Yahua and Canmax .

Lithium-ion batteries aren't made in Zimbabwe. Instead, the country exports the mineral as a raw resource . Much of the value of Zimbabwe's lithium – 480,000 metric tonnes mined since 2015 – is reaped by companies in China which make the raw lithium into batteries and other goods.

During the lithium rush, artisanal miners were involved in the lithium industry. They mined and sold raw ore. But their participation has recently slowed down because artisanal lithium mining is largely illegal. For this reason, official data reports haven't been able to record how much lithium has been mined this way.

In 2022, the Zimbabwean government banned the export of raw lithium ore in an attempt to regulate the industry and curb artisanal lithium mining and illicit exports.

However, it was still permitted to export lithium concentrate (a powdered version of the raw mineral). But the government recently decided to ban the export of lithium concentrate from January 2027. It says the ban will improve the country's efforts towards building facilities that add value to lithium, such as lithium refineries and battery production plants.

If properly implemented and regulated, the new ban on exporting lithium concentrate could increase Zimbabwe's self-sufficiency in lithium processing. It could even help the country achieve the middle-income economy it has set out in its Vision 2030 , in which it aims to have a mining industry that generates US$12 billion a year in revenue .

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