Masvingo eyes 150k tonnes of lithium

George Maponga in MASVINGO

MASVINGO has set its sights on leading Zimbabwe’s bid to become Africa’s biggest lithium producer, with the province planning to ramp up annual output of the mineral from about 18 000 tonnes in 2020 to 150 000 tonnes by 2030.

It is envisaged Sinomine’s Bikita Minerals will anchor the ambitious drive towards the target.

Bikita Minerals was snapped up by Sinomine in a US$300 million investment deal last year. The Chinese mining giant recently completed developing spodumene and petalite processing plants that were commissioned by President Mnangagwa.

Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira said the province plans to rapidly expand its annual lithium production over the next seven years.

Bikita Minerals, he said, will account for the bulk of the anticipated jump in production after recent exploration work revealed the mine was sitting on 65 million tonnes of lithium.

“We want to scale up lithium production from around 17 960 tonnes that was produced in 2020 to 150 000 tonnes by the year 2030,” he said.

“We are satisfied with progress that has been taking place at Bikita Minerals, especially after the multi-million-dollar investment by Sinomine that has not only increased lithium output but is also creating more jobs for our people, leading to aggregate growth of the province’s mining sector.

“Recently, President Mnangagwa commissioned spodumene and petalite processing plants at the mine, which is in sync with our overall vision to grow the mining sector as one of the key anchors of our provincial economy.

“Masvingo province has huge deposits of lithium and other minerals, and we think the mining sector, if fully supported, will become the main driver of our overall GDP (gross domestic product) growth as a province.”

Thousands of new jobs, Minister Chadzamira said, had been created at Bikita Minerals following the takeover by Sinomine.

Masvingo province is also endowed with huge deposits of other high-value minerals such as gold.

Plans are underway to set up gold milling centres in Bhuka, Mashava and Gutu, where output of the yellow metal was rapidly increasing.