Zimbabwe bans export of raw lithium

Zimbabwe has issued orders to ban the export of raw lithium, stating that value should be added, or perpetrators could face a fine and even possible jail time.

This, according to mines minister Winston Chitando, will see the country once considered Africa's breadbasket, benefiting from the clean energy revolution.

Many African countries have over the years allowed the export of raw minerals, with lithium topping the charts recently.

Beneficiation, which Zimbabwe has been calling for, has not been achieved and in Namibia, analysts have highlighted the costs of value addition, something several mines have flaunted in their defence.

In Namibia, several tonnes of lithium ore worth millions have been exported, however, national data released by the Namibia Statistics Agency does not reflect this.

According to a report by the Namibian Ports Authority, in October this year, 54 719 tonnes of lithium destined for the People's Republic of China was exported out of the country via the port of Walvis Bay.

This earned the outrage of analysts and the public, as illegal mining was being conducted, with the companies in question exporting large quantities under the guise of testing.

The lithium was mined at Xinfeng Investment's lithium mine at Omaruru in the Erongo region.

The company has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that it was granted approval to mine and export by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Last month, the mines ministry said it would allow Xinfeng Investment to transport crushed ore from their mine to the port at Walvis Bay for export purposes from 11 to 29 November.

The ministry in a statement said the approval was necessitated by the fact that arrangements had previously been made by the company, the holder of ML243, including contractual agreements with a vessel that was already en route to Walvis Bay before the ministry cancelled the initial transport permit.

"The company will thus be allowed to transport the crushed ore to Walvis Bay to export 55 000 tonnes as per the contractual agreement for industrial testing, which will inform whether to set up a processing plant at the mine," said the ministry.

This was a once-off arrangement, and the export ban on the company is effective from 30 November, until the company's revised mining programme is evaluated and approved, the ministry said.

According to Xinfeng, they have already shipped 75 216 tonnes of lithium ore to China.

The ore is being used in China for tests to design a modern and efficient processing plant, which must be built in Namibia, it says.

The ore only contains 1% lithium, the company has said.

The Zimbabwean government appears to be aggressive in terms of beneficiation, with Zimbabwean media reporting the loss of millions of dollars from raw lithium exports, and president Emmerson Mnangagwa expressing discontent with the way lithium has clandestinely left the country.

Chitando accordingly imposed a ban on the export of lithium through the Base Minerals Export Control Act, in an effort to ensure "that the vision of the president to see the country becoming an upper-middle income economy" is realised.

According to an order issued with immediate effect "unbeneficiated lithium in whatever form that has not undergone processing shall not be exported from Zimbabwe to another country except under the written permit of the minister".

The country is, however, allowing the export of samples of lithium-bearing ore or unbeneficiated lithium.

According to the order, anyone who contravenes or fails to comply could be found guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twice the value of the base mineral, or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years; or to both such fine and such imprisonment, Chitando said.

Namibia has registered as a source of lithium in international markets.

Local miner AfriTin Namibia has said its Uis licence could host a globally significant lithium resource.

Australian miner Askari Metals recently also reported that it found high-grade lithiumcaesium-tantalum-rubidium-type rocks near AfriTin's operations.

Another company, HeBei Xinjian Construction, recently said it was seeking to expand its off-take deals in the Tantalite Valley in Namibia after offering a letter of intent to Arcadia Minerals to negotiate sales for tantalum pentoxide and lithium oxide from the Swanson tantalum/ lithium project.

Arcadia Minerals is an Australian company with exploration interests in Namibia, where it owns tantalum, lithium, nickel, copper and gold projects.

Another Australian company, Cazaly Resources Limited, also said it was going to commence infill surface sampling at the Kaoko Critical Minerals Project, after a data review revealed potential for a sizeable sediment-hosted lithium deposit.

Infill surface sampling is done in the mining sector to determine the amount of mineable minerals.

Prospect Resources Limited, an Australian company, also announced that it had started exploring the Omaruru lithium project after paying US$1.56 million and meeting other conditions agreed upon with Osino Resources Corp. in September this year.

The Omaruru lithium project, comprising exclusive prospecting licence 5533, is centred on the village of Wilhelmstal, east of Karibib in the Erongo region, and covers 175 square kilometres.

Osino Resources’ 100% Namibian subsidiary Richwing Exploration owned the lithium project until 29 September, when Prospect Resources bought 51%.

Analysts have indicated that most of these projects could be shipping out tonnes of lithium under the guise of testing, however, this is yet to be confirmed.

Zimbabwe is considered to hold the biggest lithium reserves in Africa.

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