Zimbabwe bans export of raw lithium

The government of Zimbabwe has banned the exportation of raw lithium from its mines. Ministry of Mines and Mining Development issued the ban and said the move aims to capitalize on surge in demand and prices in global market.

“No lithium-bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country except under the written permit of the minister. The new regulation, however, the rule will not apply to mining companies that are constructing processing plants,” the county’s mining Minister Winston Chitando said in the circular.

Low foreign currency

Mr. Winston Chitando, smuggling to South Africa and the UAE is costing Zimbabwe nearly $1.8bn in lost mining earnings. Low foreign currency retention requirements have challenged mineral exporters, particularly at times when the black-market exchange rate diverged greatly from the official rate leading to smuggling.

“We want ensure that the vision of the president to see the country becoming an upper-middle income economy has been realized. Therefore we urge artisanal miners to stop digging up and smuggling the mineral across borders. If we continue exporting raw lithium we will go nowhere. We want to see lithium batteries being developed in the country. We have done this in good faith for the growth of industry,” said deputy mining minister Polite Kambamura.

In general, the mining industry of Zimbabwe is highly diversified, with close to 40 different minerals. The predominant minerals mined by the industry include platinum, chrome, gold, coal, and diamonds. The country boasts the second-largest platinum deposit and high-grade chromium ores in the world, with approximately 2.8 billion tons of platinum group metals and 10 billion tons of chromium ore. The sector accounts for about 12% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).