Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Thursday that his country has asked lithium miners to submit plans for local production of battery-grade lithium by March 2024.
Zimbabwe, Africa's largest lithium producer, has banned exports of lithium ore since last year and imposed a 5% export tax on concentrates.
Lithium, which is used in electric vehicle batteries and to store renewable energy, has become Zimbabwe's third largest foreign exchange mineral export after platinum group metals (PGM) and gold, earning $209 million in the first nine months of 2023.
Ncube said that lithium production companies should submit their beneficiation plans no later than March 31, 2024, and any lithium appreciation process that does not produce lithium carbonate is not considered beneficiation. Without an approved beneficiation plan, no new licenses will be issued to potential lithium miners.
Zimbabwe's hard rock lithium reserves are the largest in the world and have attracted more than $1 billion in investment from Chinese miners, including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, China Minerals Resources Group, Chengxin Lithium Group, Yahua Group and Tianhua Xinneng.
China Mineral Resources said on Thursday it had started a feasibility study to produce battery-grade lithium in Zimbabwe. The company recently spent $300 million to build a spodumene concentrator at the Bikita mine in southern Zimbabwe.
Huayou Mining said it would explore local production of lithium sulfate "only if construction and economic conditions are right". Huayou Mining acquired the Arcadia mine outside Harare in 2022 and completed a concentrator earlier this year.
Huayou Group has previously said Zimbabwe lacks reliable renewable energy, natural gas, sulfuric acid and other key inputs needed to produce battery-grade lithium.
For years, Zimbabwe has struggled to get platinum group metals (PGM) miners to refine metals locally. PGM Mining, which ships concentrate to South Africa's refineries, says Zimbabwe does not have enough power or minerals to support the huge capital expenditure required to build the refinery.
