Zimbabwe Lithium Mines attract Chinese investment

July 13, 2022

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Zimbabwe is home to some of the largest deposits of Lithium, a key component for the production of EV Vehicles. With the rising global demand for lithium, many mines in Zimbabwe are preparing to scale up production.

Zimbabwe is home to some of the largest deposits of Lithium, a key component for the production of EV Vehicles. With the rising global demand for lithium, many mines in Zimbabwe are preparing for higher production. Zulu lithium mines a subsidiary of Premier African Minerals is key player in the sector. It is reported that the company has agreed to start shipping a lithium-containing rock called spodumene concentrate from its facilities to China next year.

The company’s chief executive, George Roach, revealed that it received several offers from Chinese, European and Australian investors.The firm Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology Co.was chosen from them to support the Zimbabwean company to achieve vertical integration of the lithium battery supply chain.

The Chinese company has agreed to invest $35 million (€34.71 million) in the construction of a pilot plant at the Zulu mine. The plant will help the facility produce up to 50,000 tonnes of lithium-containing rocks annually.

Suzhou is also a joint owner and supplier of spodumene concentrate for Yibin Tianyi, China’s leading lithium producer.

In a similar development last month, China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt announced plans to invest $300 million in a hard-rock lithium mine just outside of Zimbabwe’s capital.The investment will be directed to erect a process plant with a capacity to treat around 4.5 million tonnes of ore and produce 400,000 tones of lithium concentrate per annum.