EXECUTIVE SUMMARY –
Zimbabwe’s lithium producers have asked the government for additional time to comply with a planned ban on the export of lithium concentrates, arguing that beneficiation and processing plants require more time, capital, and infrastructure to become operational. The request highlights the tension between Zimbabwe’s goal of promoting local value addition and industrialization in the lithium sector and industry concerns that a premature export ban could disrupt production, investment, and export earnings during the transition period.
Keywords: Zimbabwe, lithium, beneficiation, value addition, mineral processing, lithium concentrates, export ban, critical minerals, battery minerals, mining policy, industrialization, resource nationalism, mineral beneficiation, foreign investment, lithium processing plants, energy transition, mining sector, downstream value chains.
ZIMBABWE’S lithium producers have appealed to the government to extend the January 2027 deadline for a ban on lithium concentrate exports, saying that most companies are still completing processing plants required under the country’s beneficiation drive.
Speaking at the ongoing Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe Annual Conference, Lithium Association of Zimbabwe (LAZ) Chairman and Mutapa Energy Resources (MER) Chief Executive Officer Innocent Rukweza said only one of the country’s seven major lithium producers, China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, was currently ready for the transition to lithium sulphate production.
“We have lithium sulphate plants that are underway but from our analysis among the seven players, only one is ready.
“We would kindly ask and request that we finalise the work that is going on and extend the beneficiation ban, maybe to June next year (2027) or March thereabout, because all of us except one are in the final stages of finalising the various lithium sulphate plants.
“So we are going to come and sincerely plead that we be given just a little bit of leeway because the deadline might be a bit tight on us,” Rukweza said.
In February this year, the government suspended exports of lithium concentrates and other raw minerals, citing mineral leakages and export malpractices.
The ban was later partially eased through a quota-based system allowing six producers to continue exporting till January 2027 while they establish local processing facilities.
The government also introduced a 16% export tax on the mineral.
Rukweza raised concerns over the tax regime facing lithium producers, saying charges imposed on the sector were affecting competitiveness.
“The taxes that are being levied on the lithium industry are slightly on the higher side,” he said.
Zimbabwe is Africa’s largest producer of lithium-bearing spodumene concentrate and exported more than 1.1 million tonnes of the mineral to China in 2025.
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