Arcadia lithium mine in Zimbabwe set for production in 2023
Huayou Cobalt announced it set to start delivering lithium-containing minerals spodumene and petalite from Arcadia lithium mine in Zimbabwe in 2023.
The firm confirmed that construction of a full processing plant at the mining site is already at an advanced stage and has been earmarked for completion by the end of the year. The Arcadia lithium project is situated approximately 38km east of Harare and extends over an area of 9km².
The mine hosts greenstone rock units of Arcturus formation, a member of the Harare Greenstone Belt (HGB). It is housed within a series of stacker, petalite-spodumene bearing pegmatities, with an average thickness of 15m, in the HGB.
World’s largest hard rock lithium resources
The pegmatities extend up to 2.5km along strike. The mineralisation at the Arcadia deposit is predominantly made up of petalite and spodumene, while the secondary minerals are eucryptite, bikitaite, lepidolite, and tantalite. The Arcadia project is considered to be one of the world’s largest hard rock lithium resources, one of the key components used in the manufacturing of rechargeable batteries.
“We are targeting to complete our project by the end of the year so that we can start commissioning and production at the first quarter of 2023. As we speak, we are on course to achieve that,” said George Togara, manager of Huayou Cobalt’s Arcadia lithium mine.
“Once production starts, the project will contribute immensely to the growth of Zimbabwe’s mining sector. Looking at the policy or the outlook from the government to achieve 12 billion U.S. dollar mining industry by 2023, which is next year, next year we will be producing the products and exporting, so we are coming in at the right time where we are going to be playing a major role in achieving the government’s target of being a 12-billion-dollar mining industry by 2023,” Togara said.
