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Zimbabwe is preparing to enter a new era of mineral value addition, with Kuvimba Mining House set to break ground on a US$270 million lithium concentrator at its Sandawana Mine in the third quarter of 2025, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Kuvimba CEO Trevor Barnard confirmed the plan, saying the concentrator will handle 600,000 tonnes of ore annually, with commissioning expected by early 2027.
“Our forecast is that lithium prices will recover sometime in the year 2027, right at a point in time when we expect the concentrator plant to be in production,” he said.
The confidence reflects a strategic gamble. With global lithium prices having dropped nearly 90% over the past two years amid oversupply, Barnard’s timing hinges on a market rebound driven by rising electric vehicle demand and supply constraints in the years ahead.
Zimbabwe has pledged to ban exports of lithium concentrates from 2027, and Sandawana’s concentrator represents a critical step toward that goal. Ballasting this strategy is the construction model: a build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangement with Chinese technical partners who will build and run the plant for up to five years before transferring full ownership to Zimbabwe.
“We’re still working on finalising a few agreements and making sure that our partners have all the industry conditions necessary for them to begin construction. We’re looking to break ground in the third quarter,” Barnard said.
Despite subdued lithium prices, analysts believe the market is set to stabilise as EV demand heats up and supply growth slows. It is within this projected upswing that Barnard plans to bring the Sandawana concentrator online, setting Zimbabwe up to capture its share of the clean energy transition.
In the meantime, Kuvimba has begun stockpiling ore at Sandawana and is toll-processing part of it at Tsingshan Holding’s plant in Gwanda, ensuring no disruptions before full-scale operation begins.
Zimbabwe has attracted over US$3 billion in lithium investments since 2021, with major players like Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine, and Chengxin Lithium building downstream facilities. The Sandawana concentrator—fully owned by Kuvimba under a BOT framework—cements the government’s emphasis on value retention and strategic control.
As construction draws near, questions remain: Will the global market recover on schedule? Will the concentrator meet its targets? And—critically—can Zimbabwe leverage policy clarity and stable financing to make Sandawana a flagship project in its industrial future?
If all goes to plan, Zimbabwe’s investment in Sandawana will not just bring lithium processing onto national soil—it will reshape the country’s role in the global battery minerals economy.
