Lithium producer Bikita Minerals has requested the government to extend its 1 January 2027 deadline for local beneficiation, saying its US$400 million lithium sulphate plant will only be ready in July next year.
The plant, with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes, was initially scheduled for completion in March 2027. Supply chain bottlenecks and shipping delays have now pushed commissioning to July 2027.
Bikita Minerals deputy general manager, Amanda Makausi, said this during a briefing ahead of a media mine tour organised by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) in partnership with the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) on Thursday.
“Our initial projection was March 2027 and they had accepted. But due to delays in shipping the equipment and other issues beyond our control, we can no longer meet the deadline,” she said.[government]
“We are engaging the authorities and we are fully confident that we will commission the plant next July.”
The government imposed a ban on the export of unprocessed raw lithium ore and concentrates in February to force mining companies to invest in domestic processing. Following consultations with industry, it eased the restriction and set phased deadlines linked to each company’s plant construction schedule.
Bikita Minerals was acquired by China’s Sinomine Resource Group in 2022 for a reported US$180 million. Since then, it has undertaken an extensive expansion programme to extract value from all mineral fractions in its ore body.
The lithium sulphate plant is part of that programme. The company says total investment will reach about US$900 million by the end of 2027, including further beneficiation projects and power infrastructure.
Zimbabwe holds some of Africa’s largest lithium deposits and has been pushing miners to process minerals locally rather than export raw material, to capture more value from the global shift to electric vehicles and battery storage.
More: The Herald
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