Zim crafts a national lithium policy

Zimbabwe is crafting a national lithium policy in a bid to attract more investment into a sector where investors are already stampeding for space, a senior official said.

The policy will look into various aspects including lithium mining, processing, beneficiation and marketing, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Polite Kambamura said.

“The policy will guide the trajectory that the sector will take. It is a sector that is growing and that will change the country’s mining landscape.”

There are a lot of ongoing lithium projects at different levels of implementation. Lithium is a critical component in battery production and in recent years, the significance of lithium-ion batteries has increased as they underpin the green transition.

With Zimbabwe holding Africa’s largest lithium reserves, investors are stampeding for the minerals, with several projects currently at different stage of implementation.

Chinese investors have been at the forefront among those rushing for lithium not only in Zimbabwe, but across Africa and South America. A study by Rystad showed that while the world biggest economy after the U.S owned 65 percent of the world’s lithium processing and refining facilities in 2021, it accounts for less than 25 percent of deposits.

Lithium is among mineral expected to contribute to Zimbabwe’s target to grow the mining sector to US$12 billion next year. Other minerals which are expected to contribute are gold, nickel, platinum, ferrochrome and coal.

President Mnangagwa’s government is hoping the mining sector would underpin the revival of the economy as it seeks to achieve upper middle income status by 2030.-ebusinessweekly