The Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) has been granted a special permit to export raw lithium by the government, a decision expected to inject life into the firm’s struggling operations, a local daily has revealed.
The development comes after Zimbabwe banned the export of raw lithium to enable value addition and beneficiation in an effort to see the country benefit from the clean energy revolution. However, the export of raw Lithium is on special conditions and the exporter will be issued with a written permit from the Minister.
According to a recently gazetted Statutory Instrument raw Lithium will only be exported in exceptional circumstances justifying the exportation.
“On written application by any party wishing to export samples of lithium-bearing ore or unbeneficiated lithium for assaying outside Zimbabwe; or to a miner or exporter of lithium upon production of written proof satisfactory to the Minister that there are exceptional circumstances justifying the exportation in question and that the lithium-bearing ores or unbeneficiated lithium in question have been valued in terms of section 12D(3) of the Value Added Tax Act,” the Act reads.
ZDI, which has a vast investment portfolio in mining and is reeling under a Western-imposed embargo that crippled the firm’s operations for over two decades, got approval to export lithium in October last year.
The latest development comes at a time when Zimbabwe is experiencing a lithium rush following the random discovery of the lucrative and strategic mineral in some parts of the country, particularly at Sandawana Mine in the Midlands province.
Following the discovery of lithium at Sandawana Mine last year in December, an estimated 5 000 artisanal miners and fortune seekers descended onto the area searching for the lucrative mineral required in energy transition and the manufacturing of cleaner technologies such as electric vehicle batteries.
With an additional extract from Zim Ind