An Indian critical-minerals company is committing US$100 million to Zimbabwe’s lithium industry and has already begun shipping ore from its newly acquired mining assets, adding a new international investor to one of Africa’s fastest-growing battery-mineral markets, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
Lohum has secured rights to 10 lithium mining blocks in Matabeleland South Province covering about 1,100 hectares, with estimated deposits of 30 million to 40 million tonnes of lithium-bearing ore, according to the company. The assets are expected to support about 300,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over their life and carry an estimated value of about US$7 billion at current prices.
The investment is already moving beyond the development stage. Earlier this month, Lohum dispatched its first shipment of lithium ore from Zimbabwe, marking the start of its mining operations in the country and making it the first Indian company to produce lithium from an overseas mining asset.
The timing gives the investment added significance. Zimbabwe has been tightening controls around lithium exports as it seeks to move from being a producer of concentrates to a more integrated battery-minerals hub, with the government pushing producers to establish local processing capacity ahead of a January 2027 deadline for lithium sulphate plants.
For Lohum, that policy shift is already shaping its approach to the assets.
The company plans to process its Zimbabwean ore into lithium sulphate locally before shipping the intermediate product to India for further refining into lithium carbonate, Chief Executive Rajat Verma told Reuters.
“We are approaching Zimbabwe as a long-term partner, building processing capability locally rather than shipping ore out,” Verma told Reuters.
That model gives the US$100 million investment a broader significance than the development of another lithium mine. It places Lohum inside Zimbabwe’s push to retain more value from its mineral resources while creating a supply link between the country’s mines and India’s battery-materials industry.
A new investor in a China-heavy sector
Zimbabwe’s rapid rise as a lithium producer has been accompanied by substantial Chinese investment.
Chinese companies have invested more than US$2 billion in Zimbabwe’s lithium sector since 2021, with firms including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group, Chengxin Lithium and Yahua Industrial Group establishing major positions across the industry.
That investment has helped drive the expansion of Zimbabwe’s lithium output and processing capacity, but it has also left Chinese companies with a prominent position in the country’s battery-minerals supply chain.
Lohum’s entry introduces a different source of international capital and links Zimbabwean production to India, broadening the investor base around a mineral that is becoming increasingly important to global electric-vehicle and energy-storage supply chains.
The opportunity is underpinned by Zimbabwe’s growing position in the global lithium market. The US Geological Survey ranked Zimbabwe the world’s fourth-largest lithium producer in 2024, excluding the United States, accounting for about 9% of global production.
That rise has attracted foreign-backed projects across the country, turning Zimbabwe into an increasingly important source of lithium while raising the pressure on miners to move further into processing.
For Lohum, the initial 10 blocks provide a foothold in that expanding industry.
From mining rights to processing
Lohum’s initial 10 blocks could support about 300,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over their life, according to the company, which also holds an option to acquire up to 90 adjacent blocks. It is targeting annual production of about 30,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate from the Zimbabwean assets within two to three years.
That expansion will depend increasingly on processing capacity as Zimbabwe pushes miners further up the value chain.
The government temporarily halted lithium concentrate and raw-mineral exports in February before introducing a quota system for approved producers in April, while maintaining pressure on miners to establish lithium sulphate plants ahead of January 2027.
Lohum plans to process its ore into lithium sulphate in Zimbabwe before shipping it to India for conversion into lithium carbonate. The model would give the company a route into the Indian battery-materials supply chain while aligning its Zimbabwe operation with the country’s beneficiation drive.
The key test now is whether Lohum can build or secure that processing capacity quickly enough to support its mining plans and meet the 2027 deadline.
An India-Zimbabwe supply chain
The Zimbabwe investment forms part of Lohum’s wider expansion from battery recycling into primary production and other parts of the critical-minerals value chain.
The company is developing a 5,000-tonne-a-year cathode active material plant in India and expanding battery recycling and rare-earth operations. It also plans to raise about US$315 million through equity and debt to support its wider expansion, according to Reuters.
Zimbabwe gives Lohum direct access to primary lithium resources that can feed into this broader India-based battery-materials chain.
For Zimbabwe, meanwhile, the US$100 million investment adds another international investor at a time when the country is seeking to turn its rapid growth in lithium production into greater domestic value addition.
With the first shipment already dispatched, the focus now shifts from securing the resource to building the processing capacity needed to turn it into a longer-term Zimbabwe-India lithium supply chain.
Who is Lohum?
Lohum is an India-based critical-minerals company focused on lithium-ion battery materials, recycling, refining and mineral resources. The company has expanded from battery recycling into mining and downstream processing, with operations and projects spanning India, the United Arab Emirates and other markets. Its Zimbabwe investment marks Lohum’s entry into overseas mining and adds lithium production to its wider battery-materials supply chain.
