Chronicle Editor
George Maponga in Masvingo
A South African-headquartered firm, A15 International has inked a €500 million joint venture investment deal with a Saudi investor to pour money in lithium processing in Masvingo province in yet another seal of approval of the good investment climate engendered by the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa.
The massive investment deal will benefit thousands of artisanal miners of the white gold in Masvingo province and beyond as Zimbabwe continues to attract global attention because of its rich resources of lithium which is now dubbed “white gold”.
Zimbabwe is the sixth largest world lithium producer but the country remains largely under-explored amid signs it has vast resources of the mineral sufficient to propel it to the top of lithium producers as demand for the mineral surges because of its efficacy in the production of automotive batteries and ceramic industry in the era of a universally pivot toward clean energy.
A15 International founder and executive chair Mr Alexander Matare revealed that his firm had penned a joint venture agreement with a Saudi Arabia investor to finance the setting up of a lithium processing investment in Masvingo in a boon for the province’s mining industry.
Mr Matare said the Saudi investor had already released an initial €98 million for the investment that is set to consolidate Masvingo and Zimbabwe’s position as a top lithium producer.
The company has lithium claims covering 600hectares and will augment produce from the claims with ore from artisanal miners in Masvingo.
This development dovetails with Vision 2030 and adds impetus to plans by Government to create a US$12 billion mining industry as Zimbabwe pulls all the stops to accrue benefits from its vast mineral endowments.
Mr Matare, whose company is already in the process of importing a lithium processing plant from China that will process up to 100 tonnes of ore per day said his focus is to ensure small scale lithium miners easily process their resource so that they are not left in the cold in the ongoing “white gold rush”.
“Artisanal and junior miners of the “white gold” are likely going to fail to accrue benefits from the current lithium global boom due to their inability to access the processing facilities that are in the hands of large multi-national companies. This forced A15 International to moot an investment in lithium processing that ensures balance and promotes socio-economic development for the people of Zimbabwe,” said Mr Matare.
“A15 International has already signed a €500 million joint venture investment agreement with a company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and €98 million has already been advanced to import components of a lithium processing plant from China.”
He said he believes his firm has a key role to play in the speedy realisation of the target to make Zimbabwe an upper middle income economy by 2030 as espoused by President Mnangagwa.
Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira has already indicated that Masvingo wants mining to anchor its future growth prospects with the sector envisaged to be the biggest contributor to aggregate provincial Gross Domestic Product growth.
Online Reporter