Mutapa Energy Resources, Zimbabwe’s state-owned mining company, has moved contractors onto the site at Sandawana in Mberengwa, Midlands Province, to clear land for a lithium concentrator and an associated power plant, chief executive Innocent Rukweza told a parliamentary portfolio committee visit to the mine. The concentrator is expected to process three million tonnes of ore a year at an estimated cost of 315 million to 330 million dollars, with commissioning targeted for next year, and the company says it has already spent more than 65 million dollars on supporting infrastructure, including a 52 kilometre access road, power transmission and a water pipeline.
The project is financed through an investor consortium that includes Chinese partners, whose individual commitments the company has not disclosed, and it follows an earlier attempt at local processing that stalled after roughly 20 million dollars was raised against a 200 million dollar requirement. Zimbabwe tightens restrictions on lithium concentrate exports in December, and Rukweza warned that power constraints, taxation and the cost of doing business could still undermine domestic processing; the expansion has displaced 104 families, 28 of whom have been relocated so far.