African nation Zimbabwe possesses one of the largest reserves of lithium worldwide, as well as the largest in the African continent. This has attracted investments in battery minerals from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, although China continues to be the dominant player in this sector.
The new plant, located in Goromonzi approximately 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of the capital city Harare, was officially opened in the presence of Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mnangagwa disclosed that the plant is capable of processing 4.5 million metric tonnes of hard rock lithium into concentrate for export per year.
Trevor Barnard, the Deputy General Manager of Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, stated that the company aims to commence operations by processing 450,000 tonnes of concentrate annually. Subsequently, the concentrate will undergo further processing outside Zimbabwe to produce battery-grade lithium.