Chitando pushes for lithium value addition

TENDAI BHEBE

Mines and Mining Development Minister, Winston Chitando is pushing lithium miners to value add the mineral as Zimbabwe seeks to derive maximum benefits from its mineral resources.

Chitando, who spoke at the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe conference held in Victoria Falls last week, was however, concerned that the miners were not working together, like the platinum miners.

“The lithium players in this country should work together. You have to work together more closely than you are today. For example, some few years back, the government said the same to platinum miners. And the platinum players got together and proposed how they could collectively add value to the mineral. As a government, we are serious about value addition. You can also take a leaf from them, “Chitando said.

He said the process will take time before it becomes a success.

“What is important is for us to work together with industries to ensure that as an industry you achieve your goals but also as a government we achieve our goals for the value addition,” Chitando said.

He said there are some plans by individual companies to establish value addition of lithium concentrates.

“As government once we have an entity which can add value beyond the lithium concentrates and go a stage higher two things will happen. The extreme case will be to ban the export of the lithium concentrates which won’t happen but we will impose a levy.

It is important that the lithium players get together,” Chitando said.

Zimbabwe, with the largest reserves of lithium in Africa, took a bold step and banned all lithium exports after the government argued smuggling of the sought after mineral to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, costing the country US$1.8bn in lost mining earnings.

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