Zimbabwe has formally classified 14 minerals as “critical,” banned the export of all raw or unbeneficiated forms, and mandated state shareholding through special-purpose vehicles, a long-awaited codification of industrial policy that follows a dramatic 106% surge in lithium revenue on virtually no volume growth, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Mines Minister Dr Polite Kambamura signed the Mineral Classification and Declaration on 22 May 2026, ending months of ad hoc directives and giving investors, diplomats, and mining executives the first comprehensive written strategy for the country’s resource wealth.
The timing is no accident. Just weeks earlier, first-quarter data showed that lithium, Zimbabwe’s most advanced critical mineral success, earned US$178.6 million on 240,826 tonnes, a 2% volume increase but a 106% value jump from US$84.2 million a year earlier. That performance came despite no raw concentrate exports for most of March, after Kambamura imposed an immediate ban on 26 February.
“The era of shipping raw rock for marginal returns is over,” Kambamura said in an interview following the gazette. “This classification gives legal teeth to everything we have been building since the lithium ban.”
The Lists: 14 Critical, 1 Special, 10 Strategic
The schedule attached to the declaration names lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, rare earth elements, chrome, platinum group metals (PGMs), manganese, antimony, uranium, ruthenium, tungsten, and niobium as critical minerals.
Metallurgical coal is declared a “special critical mineral,” reflecting its role in steelmaking and energy-intensive processing.
Separately, limestone, potash, phosphorus, iron ore, pyrites, oil and gas, coal, gold, and diamonds are designated as strategic minerals.
Each classification carries distinct regulatory consequences, but the core restrictions apply to all critical minerals.
No Raw Exports Without a Beneficiation Plan
Under the new rules
No person may export any listed mineral in its raw or unbeneficiated form unless authorised under a conditional transitional plan approved by the Minister, with a specific timeline for local beneficiation beyond the concentrate stage.
Exports must be at approved government beneficiation levels, a direct response to the under-invoicing and middlemen abuses that Kambamura has repeatedly cited.
Any application for mining rights on these minerals now requires prior ministerial approval.
These provisions codify the logic that drove the February lithium ban: stop resource depletion, capture value locally, and force foreign miners to partner on processing.
“What we did for lithium in February was a necessary emergency measure,” Kambamura said. “Now we have a permanent legal framework for all critical minerals.”
State shareholding through SPVs
The most far-reaching long-term provision is the introduction of mandatory minimum state shareholding in the exploitation of all listed critical minerals.
The State will exercise this shareholding through designated Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs). The declaration does not specify the percentage; that will be determined by separate regulations, but the principle is now law.
This is not nationalisation. It mirrors the model that transformed Indonesia into a nickel-processing powerhouse. Jakarta banned raw ore exports, forced smelter construction, and negotiated equity stakes through state-owned enterprises. Today, Indonesia controls over 40% of global nickel refining.
Zimbabwe is following the same playbook but moving faster. Indonesia took nearly a decade. Harare has gone from a lithium ban to full critical minerals classification in under three months.
Five Criteria, Not Guesswork
The declaration also spells out, for the first time, exactly why a mineral becomes “critical” in Zimbabwe’s eyes:
- Vulnerable supply chains with the potential to cause conflicts.
- High international demand where Zimbabwe holds significant reserves or production dominance.
- Essential raw materials for domestic manufacturing and local beneficiation.
- Capacity to generate substantial direct and indirect employment and national economic benefits.
- Low occurrences and low grades, but of high value.
These criteria remove the opacity that previously frustrated investors. Any company can now assess whether its mineral falls under the new rules and why.
The Lithium Data That Proved the Concept
The declaration did not emerge from a vacuum. It is the logical culmination of a policy experiment that began with lithium and delivered stunning results.
MMCZ data for Q1 2026 showed:
- Exports: 240,826 tonnes (up just 2% from 224,610 tonnes in Q1 2025)
- Value: US$178.64 million (up 106% from US$84.19 million)
- Daily pre-ban extraction rate: 4,300 tonnes (72% higher than Q1 2025’s 2,496 tonnes/day)
- March 2026 exports: near zero due to the 26 February ban
Had the ban not been imposed, the quarterly volume would have exceeded 387,000 tonnes, a 72% surge that would have accelerated depletion. Instead, Zimbabwe earned more money from almost the same tonnage, proving that value, not volume, is the future.
Kambamura reinforced that message in response to a question from Mining Zimbabwe. “After setting up lithium salts beneficiation facilities, the quota system and beneficiation tax will be scrapped,” he said.
That pledge is now reinforced by the new declaration, which offers a durable legal home for the transitional nature of quotas and taxes.
What Comes Next
The declaration is a framework, not the final word. Several implementing regulations are still needed:
- SPV shareholding percentages for each mineral.
- Beneficiation level schedules specifying what counts as “processed” versus “raw” for each metal.
- Transitional plan templates that companies must submit to continue exporting during plant construction.
- Penalties and enforcement mechanisms for violations.
Kambamura’s ministry has indicated these regulations will be published within 90 days.
A Question for the Industry
With the strategy now spelt out, the remaining question for mining CEOs, especially those in cobalt, rare earths, and PGMs, is no longer “What is the policy?” It is: How fast can you build your processing plants?
The lithium path is clear: build a lithium sulphate or carbonate facility, and quotas and taxes disappear. The new declaration extends that logic to 13 other critical minerals.
Zimbabwe has moved from ad hoc directives to a codified strategy. The ball is now in the boardrooms of every mining house operating in the country.
The Bottom Line
Zimbabwe is no longer a passive pit. It is a sovereign actor with a published, legally enforceable critical minerals strategy. The classification of 14 metals, the ban on raw exports, and mandatory state shareholding through SPVs collectively represent the most comprehensive resource governance framework in Southern Africa.
The lithium success proved the concept. The 22 May 2026 declaration makes it permanent.
For investors, the message is clear: partner on local processing, accept the State as a minority shareholder, and export only beneficiated products. Those who comply will find a predictable, transparent regime. Those who do not will find no export licence.
The minerals are in the ground. The strategy is on paper. The only missing piece is execution, and Zimbabwe has already shown it can move fast.
