Sinomine Bikita Minerals has broken ground on a new Tantalite-Niobium Recovery Plant as the Government pushes the lithium producer to deepen local beneficiation, with Mines and Mining Development Minister Dr Polite Kambamura revealing that he had arrived prepared to shut down the operation if it had failed to comply with beneficiation requirements, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Kambamura said his visit to Bikita Minerals was intended to assess progress on commitments made by lithium producers following the Government’s move earlier this year to ban the export of raw and semi-processed minerals.
He said lithium producers had been called upon to establish beneficiation facilities, laboratories, a lithium sulphate plant and systems to separate individual economic minerals from lithium concentrate.
“We’ve come here today to follow up, to check whether Bikita Sino Mine complied with that goal,” Kambamura said.
“We are pleased to note that there is a lot of work in progress. We toured around, we saw what is happening.”
The minister said the Government’s position on compliance was firm, revealing that closure had been a possibility had Bikita failed to demonstrate progress.
“If I had come here today and seen that they have not complied or they are reluctant, I was going to close down this operation,” he said.
“But I’m not going to do that today. I’ve seen the commitment that they are doing.”
Kambamura said Zimbabwe had previously lost significant mineral value through the export of raw and semi-processed minerals, but said the developments at Bikita showed progress towards recovering more value locally.
He said his tour had revealed efforts to recover minerals including tantalum, niobium and caesium.
“Years back, we were losing this tantalite, we were losing this neopia, we were losing caesium,” he said.
“Right now, the facility that I’ve toured, I’ve seen efforts by the investor to separate caesium from fosite. I’ve seen efforts by the investor to separate tantalum, even from the tailings which they were throwing away years back.”
The minister called on other lithium producers to follow suit, saying the Government would continue to monitor compliance across the sector.
Kambamura also said mineral export revenue had increased by about 97 percent between February and September 2026, although he stressed that the increase was not coming from Sinomine alone but from the wider mining industry.
Major projects under scrutiny
The Tantalite-Niobium Recovery Plant forms part of a wider expansion programme at Bikita, with Kambamura saying the Government would continue to monitor the company’s commitments on downstream processing.
He said the operation was expected to deliver a lithium sulphate plant, a 50-megawatt thermal power plant and the recovery plant being launched.
“Come next year, we’ll be seeing Africa’s largest lithium sulphate plant built here in Masvingo, at Bikita,” Kambamura said.
“Come next year, we’ll be seeing a 50-megawatt thermal power plant built here at Bikita Minerals, to power the lithium sulphate plant.”
He said the new recovery plant would be operational by next year and would separate key minerals from the concentrate.
Kambamura also said the spodumene plant would be upgraded to 3.6 million tonnes to meet the requirements of the planned 100,000-tonne lithium sulphate plant.
The minister warned that the Government would return to assess progress against deadlines already set.
“Once again, we are coming back to check on progress, to check on the thermal power plants that we have committed to build, to check on progress on construction of the lithium sulphate plants,” he said.
“Remember, we came up with deadlines. And as Government, we are not going back on those deadlines.”
Local managers expected
Kambamura said beneficiation must be accompanied by greater localisation of skills and senior management.
He said when the Government announced its policy in February, it required local empowerment in top human resources and senior management positions.
“I think it’s a work in progress,” he said.
“I’ve noticed that at each stage, at each level, there are locals that are understanding the skills to enable the skills transfer.”
The minister said the Government expected the localisation process to reach senior operational positions within two years.
“In two years’ time, when we come back here, we expect to be seeing the plant managers, those that run the plant, the mine managers, to be all locals,” he said.
Kambamura said Zimbabwe had the mineral deposits and human capital needed to sustain its mining industry, while investment provided the capital required to develop those resources.
“We have the deposits, the pegmatites that we are mining. We have a rich human capital, skilled labour in mining, we do have. What we don’t have is the capital that we are bringing,” he said.
“So if we apply that together, we can come up with a sustainable mining industry.”
Communities must benefit
The minister also told Bikita that the success of the investment should be measured by the benefits reaching surrounding communities.
“The works that you are doing here, or the success of the works that you are doing here, should benefit the communities in which you are operating,” he said.
“If the works that you are doing here fail to benefit the local communities, then what we are doing is unsustainable.”
He specifically said communities in Ward 18 should benefit through employment opportunities.
Kambamura acknowledged that people had been relocated as a result of mining developments and said arrangements were being made to ensure they had water.
He also noted that the investor had built schools and clinics and intervened in social welfare, but urged Bikita to go further by creating economic opportunities that could survive beyond the life of the mine.
“Keep doing good. But I would like you to go further, to empower our people,” he said.
“So that even after the closure of this mine, our people can continue to survive. Come up with the projects that our people can do, that our people can continue to do, even after the big matter in this place has been mined out.”
Chadzamira backs beneficiation
Earlier, Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira said the groundbreaking represented a practical step towards Zimbabwe’s beneficiation and industrialisation ambitions.
He said Zimbabwe had historically exported significant quantities of minerals in raw or semi-processed form, limiting the value retained within the country.
“The establishment of this Tantalite Processing Plant is therefore a welcome development,” Chadzamira said.
He said local processing could create opportunities beyond mining, including manufacturing, technology, logistics, engineering and associated services.
Chadzamira urged Bikita Minerals to ensure the project delivers employment, skills development, opportunities for local suppliers and contractors, technology transfer and meaningful participation by surrounding communities.
He also called for high standards of environmental management, occupational health and safety, community engagement and responsible mineral development.
“The success of projects such as this one must therefore be measured not only by the returns produced or the revenues generated, but also by the extent to which they contribute to sustainable development and improve the welfare of our people,” he said.
The Tantalite-Niobium Recovery Plant is part of Sinomine Bikita Minerals’ wider beneficiation programme, which seeks to increase the recovery and processing of minerals associated with its lithium operation and retain greater value from Zimbabwe’s mineral resources within the country.
