Zimbabwe Insists On 2027 Lithium Concentrates Export Ban Deadline

Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube has said the government will keep the 2027 deadline for lithium producers to set up beneficiation plants. He said those unable to do so are encouraged to sign tolling agreements with companies that already have processing capacity.

Ncube’s comments follow calls from most of the country’s lithium producers last week for more time to complete their beneficiation plants.

Innocent Rukweza, chairperson of the Lithium Association of Zimbabwe, recently said that out of the seven major lithium producers in the country, only one is ready to move from concentrates to lithium sulphate production.

The Zimbabwean government plans to ban lithium concentrate exports from January 2027 to boost local refining and keep more revenue from value-added lithium exports.

Speaking to the media from China last week, Ncube said the government expects two Chinese-invested lithium companies that already have beneficiation capacity, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ) and Bikita Minerals, to provide enough processing capacity for the other companies.

“We can’t expect everybody to come up with a lithium concentrator, it’s expensive,” Ncube said. “So they should sign MoUs with PLZ and Bikita Minerals. To us, that will be adequate for as long as they will process their throughput through those two companies,” he added.

Ncube said the Zimbabwean government is sticking to the 2027 deadline for now.

More: Xinhua

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