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The value addition of lithium the mineral used in producing batteries has been recommended as needing a very strong and strict legal framework.According to a ministerial directive on the export of lithium, the upcoming Mines and Minerals law should be rigid on lithium value-addition to ensure maximum returns for the country from the commodity. Zimbabwe is endowed with diverse mineral resources but lithium is the topical at the moment, a position that has triggered amplified investor interest in the resource as the world evolves towards adoption of renewable energy and electric cars to curb emissions.
Minister of Mines and mining Development, Honourable Winston Chitando on December 20, 2022, announced that, ”lithium-bearing ores could only be exported on the basis of a written permission from himself as Minister of Mines and Mining Development.” The provision allowed free movement of rocks meant for assay abroad or lithium ore whose market value would have been determined on the basis of reference to a reputable metals exchange. Ban on raw lithium exports is meant to encourage investment in local processing facilities.
Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, to that effect in February indicated that Government is ready to put forward, ”US$20 million to partner investors willing to invest in a lithium battery manufacturing project in Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe reportedly produced 1,200 tonnes of lithium in 2021, making it the sixth-largest miner globally behind Brazil (1 900 tonnes), Argentina (6 200 tonnes), China (14,000 tonnes), Chile (26 000 tonnes) and Australia (55 000 tonnes). Nevertheless, being one of the top producers of the commodity does not automatically translate to maximum financial returns, given that lucrative price is earned from a beneficiated or value-added commodity. Locals’, particularly artisanal miners are selling the commodity for a song compared to benefits that can be accrued from exporting concentrates or retailing lithium products like batteries.
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