Trymore Tagwirei

Mutapa Investment Fund’s energy minerals subsidiary, Mutapa Energy Minerals, is set to begin construction of a lithium concentrate processing plant at the Sandawana Lithium Mine by June this year, marking a significant step in Zimbabwe’s drive to beneficiate its battery minerals.

The planned US$270 million facility, with an annual ore processing capacity of 600 000 tonnes, will be developed under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement in partnership with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Tsingshan Holding Group.

Mutapa Energy Minerals chief executive Innocent Rukweza said the company is finalising groundwork ahead of breaking ground on the project.

“We are hoping that before mid-year, around June at the latest, we will have started constructing a lithium-producing plant that processes concentrate,” he said.

The initial phase will focus on lithium concentrate production. Rukweza indicated that the company is already preparing for downstream value addition in line with Government policy, which will ban the export of raw lithium concentrate from January 2027.

“On the aspect of sulphate, which is critical in battery manufacturing, we will need a bit of time, but we are working on it because 2027 is the deadline to stop the export of concentrate,” he said.

Mutapa Energy Minerals was recently established following the unbundling of Kuvimba Mining House into five specialised entities under Mutapa Investment Fund.

The restructuring aims to sharpen operational focus, strengthen corporate governance and unlock greater value from Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth.

The other standalone units are Mutapa Gold Resources, Mutapa Base Metals, Mutapa Platinum Group and Mutapa Frontier, which will focus on rare earth and frontier minerals.

The Sandawana Mine, in Midlands Province and historically renowned for emerald production, is being repositioned as a strategic lithium asset within Mutapa’s expanding mining portfolio.

The area hosts extensive pegmatite formations rich in lithium mineralisation.

Zimbabwe ranks among the world’s top 10 holders of lithium resources and is accelerating development of the sector, with six major producers at various stages of operation. These include Bikita Minerals, Kamativi Mining Company, Sabi Star Lithium, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, Bravura Lithium and Sandawana.

The lithium industry has already generated more than 5 000 direct and indirect jobs and is increasingly viewed as a key pillar of the country’s economic transformation agenda.

Rukweza said Mutapa Energy Minerals is actively engaging strategic partners to support both the concentrate phase and future production of lithium sulphate and lithium carbonate — key inputs in battery manufacturing.

“In the meantime, we are pursuing partners who can assist with the concentrate phase, while also taking a forward-looking approach to assess the feasibility of establishing a sulphate plant,” he said.

He added that investor interest spans the entire lithium value chain — from mining to advanced processing — positioning Sandawana as a cornerstone of Zimbabwe’s ambition to transition from raw mineral exports to high-value industrial production.