The Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Hon. Zhemu Soda, was impressed by Kamativi Mining Company’s (KMC) investment strategy, which will see the company’s lithium spodumene processing plant commissioned by President HE Emmerson Mnangagwa next month.
Rudairo Mapuranga
The Minister of Mines and Mining Development visited KMC as part of his program outside the ongoing African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) ordinary session of Ministers taking place in Victoria Falls to assess the readiness of the mine for official commissioning by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
KMC has completed its first-phase processing plant and is constructing the second phase processing plant. The first-phase processing plant will process 300,000 tonnes and produce 50,000 tonnes of concentrate, with the second phase expected to process 2.3 million tonnes and produce 300,000 tonnes per annum. The company aims to produce 350,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate next year.
Minister Soda said he was impressed by the investment, which has breathed life back into the small town. KMC has already invested US$100 million in the first phase plant and committed US$149 million towards the second phase.
According to Minister Soda, while the first-phase processing plant is up and running, the company will complete the second phase in June.
“We are pleased with the continuous appetite for investment in Zimbabwe, which Kamativi has shown by embarking on their second phase. They have just completed their first phase, which is now up and running, but they moved on to construct their second plant, which will be their second phase, and they are saying this plant is six times bigger in terms of production capacity than the first phase. So we are impressed by that appetite and the amount of investment they are bringing into the country.
“This phase will be completed and up and running in June. So we are just very grateful, and as they expand, it means they will also expand job provisions. Jobs will be created for the people, and the livelihoods of the community surrounding this place will improve. So we are very much happy and grateful for the developments happening in Zimbabwe. We are also very happy about the development happening here at Kamativi Mining Company,” Minister Soda said.
Speaking at the tour, KMC Non-Executive Director Munashe Shava said KMC intends to see the processing plant up and running in July.
Shava said the second phase is an upgrade of the first, which was done to validate the processing design and flow sheet.
“The second phase is an upgrade of phase one. Remember, phase one, what we are doing is in terms of planned throughput, we are processing 300,000 tons and producing 50,000 tons of concentrate. Phase two, we are going up to 2.3 million tons and producing 300,000 tons of concentrate. So it’s a replica of phase one but at a bigger scale. The reason why we did phase one was also to validate our design, our process flow sheet, to ensure that what we intended to achieve was a success. So we are doing a lot of work. This has been very successful, as you saw, and that’s why now I am embarking on phase two.
“Already in Phase 1, we have invested around USD100 million, so Phase 2 is about USD149 million. Phase 2, as you can see, almost all the equipment that we require for Phase 2 is already on-site. Our target for the project is to have the project up and running by July 2024. So by June, we should be done with all the construction work currently happening,” Shava said.
