LONDON, July 22 (Argus) - The Zimbabwe National Railways (NRZ) has entered into a partnership with the private operator Bettridge Blavoy Railways to transport lithium concentrate from mines in southern Zimbabwe by rail rather than road to Maputo Port in Mozambique.
NRZ stated that the first train carrying 1,000 tons of lithium concentrate has departed from Sincollson in Zimbabwe and is heading for Maputo.
This project comes at a time when Zimbabwe's lithium industry is experiencing rapid expansion. Last year, the country exported approximately 1.2 million tons of lithium spodumene. Although there was a disruption in exports earlier this year due to export restrictions, the export volume from January to June still reached 473,000 tons, making Zimbabwe the largest lithium producer in Africa.
Improving railway transportation connections can help alleviate one of the main bottlenecks faced by Zimbabwe's lithium industry - the transportation of the growing amount of concentrate from inland mines to export markets. In recent years, Chinese enterprises have increased their investment in Zimbabwe, aiming to diversify the supply of lithium resources.
