Source: WHY IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ZIMBABWE TO BAN RAW LITHIUM EXPORTS – herald
Business Reporter
THE global lithium supply chain was caught off-guard late last month, as Zimbabwe shook the markets after slamming the door on lithium concentrate exports.
In moving the original deadline for lithium firms to build beneficiation facilities forward by nearly a year, Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Polite Kambamura cited resource plunder, under-declaration of exports and extensive revenue loss as the key reasons for the ban.
Invisible loss
Minister Kambamura justified the immediate ban by highlighting Zimbabwe’s “multi-element” geology, arguing that raw exports result in the undocumented loss of valuable secondary minerals.
Tantalum, beryl and tin are high-value minerals often embedded in lithium ore, but leave the country undetected due to a lack of sophisticated assay capacity.
Minister Kambamura said without domestic processing, the State cannot accurately tax the full mineral wealth.
The ban was also extended to other key minerals, including chrome.
At the heart of the Government’s decision is an aggressive push for domestic value addition, as the Government focuses on transitioning from an “upstream” extractor to a “downstream” chemical producer.
According to the United States Geological Survey, Zimbabwe’s control of over 10 percent of the global lithium market lends significant weight to its policy shifts, making it a major driver of international market dynamics.
The immediate market reaction to the export ban, which sent lithium prices surging, proves that if the country can move the global markets simply by withholding raw materials, the economic potential of transitioning to high-value exports is immense.
The ongoing transition from fossil fuel-reliant internal combustion engines (ICEs) to electric vehicles (EVs) has influenced the rising demand for lithium, a key component in the manufacturing of EV batteries.
Global lithium demand is experiencing rapid, structural growth driven by the energy transition, with forecasts suggesting it could exceed 13 million tonnes by 2050.
Demand in 2026 is projected to grow by 16 percent to 30 percent year-over-year.
EVs and energy-storage systems are the primary drivers, expected to account for over 90 percent of total demand by 2040, positioning major producers like Zimbabwe to draw significant benefits through beneficiation and value addition.
While mining experts and analysts view the lithium concentrate ban as a short-term setback, as it impacts mining revenues, they agree that this is a necessary pivot to ensure that the country captures the billions in potential revenue that were being lost under the previous policy structure.
To put the scale of the opportunity into perspective, a tonne of 6 percent lithium concentrate fetches between US$1 250 and US$1 330 on the global spot market.
In contrast, refined battery-grade lithium carbonate derived from it may fetch between US$12 000 and US$26 000 per tonne, which underscores the immense revenue potential of domestic processing.
Zimbabwe exported 1,128 million tonnes of spodumene concentrate in 2025, representing an 11 percent increase compared to the previous year.
The Government’s aggressive stance is thus fuelled by a determination to end the era of “resource leakage”, where raw materials are exported at a fraction of their ultimate global market value.
“When we export concentrate, we are essentially exporting our industrial potential and high-value jobs,” analyst Mr Enoc Musara said, noting that 90 percent of the final product’s value is currently fed into offshore refineries.
“With Zimbabwe now controlling roughly 10 percent of global supply, the Government knows it holds the cards.
“They are unlikely to relent on this ban because the price gap between concentrate and carbonate is too large to ignore. For miners, the mandate is clear — comply; start building refineries.”
Zimbabwe is home to several major lithium operations, notably Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (Arcadia), Bikita Minerals in Masvingo, Sabi Star in Buhera, Kamativi Mining Company in Hwange and Sandawana Mines in Mberengwa.
Arcadia Technology Zimbabwe, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, which also owns PLZ, has invested US$400 million in a first-of-its-kind lithium sulphate processing plant in Goromonzi, near Harare.
The company began hot commissioning in December, testing machinery in preparation for full-scale production, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe spokesperson Ms Patience Chizodza told this publication.
The plant is designed to process 400 000 tonnes of lithium concentrate annually, a capacity that will significantly bolster Zimbabwe’s position in the global supply chain.
Mutapa Energy Minerals plans to start construction of a lithium concentrate processing plant at Sandawana by June this year, its chief executive officer, Mr Innocent Rukweza, told a recent press conference.
The mine will initially focus on producing lithium concentrate before progressing to thebeneficiated battery-grade products.
“We are hoping that before half-year this year, around June at the latest, we will have started constructing a lithium-producing plant which does concentrate,” Mr Rukweza said.
Bikita Minerals, Zimbabwe’s largest lithium operation, is conducting feasibility studies for a new lithium sulphate plant, according to spokesperson Mr Tinomuda Chakanyuka.
Owned by the Sinomine Resource Group, the mine expects to finalise the plans by December as part of its broader shift towards high-value chemical processing.
The project, which will be developed in phases, represents an estimated investment of approximately US$500 million from shareholders, Mr Chakanyuka said.
Apart from the primary producers, Zimbabwe’s vast potential in lithium has also attracted direct interest in beneficiation and value addition. Chinese investors Eagle Canyon International Group Holding Limited and Pacific Goal Investments sealed a US$13 billion deal with the Government for the construction of a “mine-to-energy industrial park” to produce lithium-ion batteries.
Analysts argue that the Government has historically been “too lenient”, noting that deadlines have often proved ineffective.
This pattern was clearly visible when the 2007 ban on chrome exports was lifted in 2009 after industry lobbying.
A similar cycle occurred in 2014, where a second ban was eventually relaxed following further empty commitments to construct smelters.
To avoid repeating “these mistakes”, experts insist that policy must not be implemented in a “bits and pieces” fashion; otherwise, companies will continue to exploit grace periods as opportunities to deplete resources before any real value addition takes place.
Global demand for lithium surged by 20 percent last year, driven primarily by a spike in EV adoption across China and Europe, alongside a broader appetite for battery storage, according to the US Geological Survey.
Zimbabwe’s lithium concentrate exports hit 1,5 million tonnes in 2025 — a performance that realised US$571,6 million, according to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe.
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