Legal dispute stalls Kamativi reopening
THE resuscitation of Kamativi Mine has been stalled by a legal dispute among different investors who were awarded concessions by the Government to exploit lithium, Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Polite Kambamura has said.
The Government had projected that the Matabeleland North-based once thriving tin mine will be reopened as a lithium multi-element ore body operation by next year.
Lithium is one of the minerals the Government has earmarked for playing a critical role towards the achievement of the US$12 billion mining economy by next year.
Under the US$12 billion milestone, lithium is expected to contribute US$500 million annually and the figure is projected to rapidly increase beyond 2023 as more lithium mines come on board and vast improvement in production by existing mines.
In an interview on the sidelines of the just ended 112th Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare, Deputy Minister Kambamura said: “We found an investor to partner ZMDC (Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation) for the exploitation of that resource in Kamativi, but there had been some legal issues, which are still in the courts which need to be sanitised.
“As soon as those issues are cleared work will commence at Kamativi.
“That’s the only challenge which is stalling progress to resuscitate Kamativi.”
In 2018, one of the investors the Government granted a concession at Kamativi, Zimbabwe Lithium Company, got involved in a legal battle over mining rights at the tailings dump with Beijing Pinchang, a Chinese firm that had expressed interest in reviving operations at the defunct mine.
The matter was heard at the High Court in Harare under case number HC8070/18 and in January 2020 and the courts ruled in favour of Zimbabwe Lithium Company over mining rights at the tailings dump but the Chinese firm appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court.
Kamativi, which is wholly-owned by ZMDC, closed in 1994 due to depressed international prices of tin.
And to improve the exploitation of resources in the mining sector in sync with the aspirations of Vision 2030 of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy status, the Government has granted a number of investors mining rights in Kamativi.
The lithium mining project in Kamativi was being implemented by the Zimbabwe Lithium Company under a US$1,4 billion investment plan.
“There are some investors who were found by the Government to exploit that resource, but there has been some dispute between those investors.
“As you are aware the Kamativi resource is quite big so, it was split or divided with different investors awarded the concessions, but there has been a dispute now among the investors which is still at the courts,” he said.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Chitando last year said the Government intended to reopen Kamativi Mine, once a tin operation, within two years, but this time a lithium multi-element ore body.
“It is a mine which had closed down for a long time. Let me be very clear, Kamativi was a tin mine, but it’s not reopening as a tin mine, it’s reopening as a multi-element ore body. Therefore, there has to be reconfiguration, actually it’s a new plant being constructed,” he said.
Zimbabwe is among the major lithium producers anticipated to draw significant benefits from firm global prices and high demand for the precious mineral.
In 2019, global lithium demand had reportedly spiked to 49 000 tonnes with 60 percent of that being for use in battery-related products.
Experts have hinted that with around a billion light-duty vehicles on the roads, and the number set to rise to three billion by 2050, electrifying the world fleet could put a huge squeeze on lithium supply.
herald.cl.zw
