Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) chief executive officer Tafadzwa Chinamo believes lithium exports can earn more foreign currency for the country than gold as more investors express eagerness to venture into lithium mining and beneficiation.
In an interview with NewsDay recently, Chinamo said a lot of investment is going into lithium. He said:
Investor interest is definitely there as you shall see from the (soon-to-be-released investment) figures.
There were a lot of investments, a lot of inquiries, and a lot of licences issued by ZIDA dominated obviously by mining.
Lithium is the buzz (word) these days, so a lot of investment is going in there.
The trend continued in 2023 if not at a faster pace so there is definitely interest.
If we do the entire value chain of lithium, I don’t see why it can’t surpass gold.
If you are processing it to those levels or much, much, more then definitely it will be a major export.
Annually, gold generates more than US$1 billion in export revenue, according to official statistics.
Lithium is a key component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, hence the increase in lithium interest.
Zimbabwe’s lithium deposits are located in Arcadia, Goromonzi and Kamativi.
The leading lithium miners in Zimbabwe are Chinese firms Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group, and Chengxin Lithium Group.
The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe says the country is expected to produce 54 500 tonnes of lithium in 2023, a 9% increase over last year’s 50 000 tonnes.
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