On Wednesday, a 300 million dollar lithium processing facility in Zimbabwe was inaugurated by a Chinese mining company.
The nation in southern Africa possesses the greatest reserves of the metal in Africa and one of the largest reserves in the entire globe.
Due to its use in the batteries for electric cars, lithium has seen a sharp increase in demand worldwide in recent years. Zimbabwe has attracted investors in battery materials from Canada, the UK, and Australia as a result, though China continues to be the dominating participant.
According to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the new plant opened by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt subsidiary Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe can convert 4.5 million metric tonnes of hard rock lithium into concentrate each year for export.
The facility at Goromonzi, which is 80 kilometres (50 miles) south-east of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, had its official opening with Mnangagwa in attendance.
Trevor Barnard, the deputy general manager of Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, stated that the company intends to begin by processing 450,000 tonnes of concentrate annually.
Outside of Zimbabwe, the concentrate will undergo additional processing to produce battery-grade lithium.
