What’s fuelling China’s lithium rush in Zimbabwe? The long game on zero carbon
- The African country’s massive reserves of the ore are in the spotlight as demand for electric cars grows in a global green race
- Chinese mine acquisition spree, in contrast to Western wariness, seen as classic sign of putting long-term gains over short-term costs
Zimbabwe holds Africa’s largest lithium reserves, the fifth-largest globally, with its province of Masvingo home to the Bikita mine – site of the world’s largest-known deposit of the metal at around 11 million tonnes.
The resource, however, has remained largely untapped for decades due to a lack of investment.
In February, state-run China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group announced it would acquire a lithium project in Zimbabwe, the latest Chinese giant to make multimillion dollar acquisitions to secure Lithium supplies in the worldwide race to go green.
Sinomine Resource Group (Sinomine), a China Nonferrous subsidiary, paid US$180 million to acquire full control of two privately held companies that jointly owned 74 per cent of Bikita Minerals, the country’s oldest lithium producer.
The Bikita mine initially opened in 1911 for tin excavation, with lithium mining only starting in 1953. A 2021 British Geological Survey report said it was the only mine in Africa producing lithium, though this was yet to be used in battery supply chains.