adminMines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire told Business Chronicle that Zimbabwe had in the past not seriously considered the exploitation of minerals such as tantalite and lithium.
“Two weeks ago, we sent some of our geologists and metallurgists to attend a conference in Hong Kong.
“During that conference it emerged that some of the minerals such as tantalite and lithium that we considered to be ‘rare earth minerals’ are turning to be minerals of tomorrow because of advancement in modern technology,” he said.
He said for example tantalite was at the moment being used on China’s railway systems as well as in the production of information communication technology equipment such as cellphones.
Among other functions, lithium is used in the production of batteries.
In 2010, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) said that Zimbabwe was considered among the largest lithium producers in the world after the United States, followed by China and a few other countries.
The suggestion was based on the abundance of lithium bearing minerals such as the petalites, amblygomites and lepidolites in Zimbabwe, which are responsible for the country’s prominence on the world market.
“We need to explore resources that we have termed rare earth minerals such as lithium and start exploiting them.
“When minerals such as chrome are exported to other countries we also need to sample them for these minor minerals.
“This is the reason why we are calling for the setting up of more smelters so that minerals such as chrome are not exported in their raw form,” said Deputy Minister Chimanikire.
The country has the potential for value addition in the manufacture of lithium batteries.
And of late, the IDC has identified one of its associate companies as the only dry cell manufacturer in the country.
However, because of the company’s technology which is getting outdated as it is able to produce zinc-carbon batteries only, an opportunity exists for joint venture
partnership to either upgrade the existing plant or embark on a greenfield project to manufacture lithium batteries or any other lithium-based products.
Zimbabwe has tantalite at its Odzi Mine in Manicaland while other deposits are suspected to be lying idle in the Midlands province.
Lithium deposits are also found in areas such as Bikita in Masvingo province as well as in Matabeleland North province in Kamativi.
Before Kamativi Tin Mine suspended operations in June 1994 due to depressed international price of the base metal, tantalite and lithium were also recovered during the processing of tin.
Online Reporter