Zimbabwe, Africa’s top lithium producer and the world’s sixth-largest lithium miner, is looking to boost its economy with higher-value lithium by refining the raw material to battery-grade lithium. Four large-scale producers of lithium concentrate have already submitted plans to refine the raw material locally, instead of shipping it to China, whose lithium companies dominate the lithium extraction industry in Zimbabwe, according to a senior government official in the African country.
Chinese miners Sinomine Resource Group, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Yahua Group, Chengxin Lithium Group, Canmax Technologies, and Tsingshan Group are operating in Zimbabwe. After extracting the lithium concentrate they ship it to China for processing it into battery-grade lithium to be used in electric vehicles EVs and energy storage facilities. Last year, Zimbabwe’s lithium mine production hit a new record high of 3,400 metric tons, up by a massive 230% compared to 2022.