The country’s current stockpile is more that 820 000 tonnes of lithium with an average grade of just under 2%.
According to Kuvimba Mining House Chief Executive Officer, Simbarashe Chinyemba this is high grade lithium the country has mined so far.
Zimbabwe has the largest lithium reserves in Africa and has in recent years drawn investors in battery minerals from Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, although China is the dominant player.
The country hopes to satisfy 20 percent of the world’s total lithium demand when it fully exploits its known lithium resources.
Apparently, Kuvimba Mining is planning to inject US$1 million for the resuscitation of the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) which was the largest steel works in Zimbabwe employing about 5,500 people in the 1990s while around 50,000 people were indirectly employed by the company before plunging into viability problems related to corporate governance deficiencies.
The planned injection is mainstreamed under the Mining Project and Steel Project in a development that is set to unlock opportunities for several businesses in the value chain.
Meanwhile, Kuvimba Mining is a state owned enterprise in Zimbabwe, which is also a holding company for several Mining Companies: Sandawana Mines, Great Dyke Investments, Zimbabwe Alloys, Jena Mines, Freda Rebecca Mine, Shamva Mining Company and Bindura Nickel Corporation.
Often referred to as ‘white gold’, lithium (the alkali metal) is a key component in the production of many different types of batteries powering today’s technological marvels.
Zimbabwe’s Bikita mine, in the southwestern province of Masvingo, happens to hold the world’s largest-known deposit of the alkali metal, at around 11m tonnes.
According to an African Mining Markets report, “Zimbabwe is the leading country in Africa to produce lithium ore, and the 4th largest in the world”.
Harare is now looking to the worldwide surge in demand to help make its economic recovery plans a reality, thanks to its dominating position in the global supply of the mineral.
Zwnews
