IN December 2022, Zimbabwe banned raw lithium ore exports to minimise the economic potential of artisanal mining and encourage investments in state-approved production facilities. Then, in January 2023, another ban followed, according to the state-owned newspaper the Herald, this time covering all base mineral ores. By Isabeau van Halm “No lithium-bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever,…
The government of Zimbabwe has banned the export of raw lithium to enable value addition and beneficiation in an effort to see the country benefit from the clean energy revolution. Rudairo Mapuranga The country has been losing millions of dollars from raw lithium exports with President Emmerson Mnangagwa expressing discontent with the way the lithium clandestinely left…