Zimbabwe has given lithium miners until March 2024 to develop plans for manufacturing battery-grade lithium within the country.
This is to take advantage of the growing demand for the mineral, which is used in renewable energy.
The move comes after the country decided last year not to let lithium ore leave the country and put a 5% export tariff on concentrates.
During his budget statement in parliament on Thursday, Mthuli Ncube, the finance minister, said that the government does not see the concentrate that miners in the country are already making as beneficiation.
"Any lithium value addition process that does not result in the production of lithium carbonate is not regarded as beneficiation,” he said.
“Lithium-producing companies should submit their beneficiation plans no later than 31 March 2024."
The minister also said that potential lithium miners would not be given any new licences until their beneficiation plans were approved.
Zimbabwe's third-largest mineral export in the first nine months of 2023 was lithium, worth $209 million in foreign currency. It was followed by platinum group metals (PGM) and gold.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
