“If I calculate, I will get around 8,512 metric tonnes of caesium within the 1.52 million metric tonnes of concentrate exported” – Eng Mudono
Zimbabwe lost approximately US$400 million in unreported caesium and tantalum from lithium concentrate exports before the government imposed a ban on raw mineral shipments, a National University of Science and Technology lecturer has calculated.
By Rudairo Maparanga
Speaking at a breakfast meeting on Zimbabwe’s export ban organised by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Organisation (ZELO) last week, Eng Mudono presented detailed estimates of the value of by-minerals that were leaving the country undeclared.
“If I use that as the basis of calculation, then I have a general approximation of the content within the concentrate. For caesium, 0.07 to 1.05 per cent. If I calculate, I will get around 8,512 metric tonnes of caesium within the 1.52 million metric tonnes exported. That is around US$30 million,” Mudono said.
“Then you go to tantalum. Generally, 0.036 to 0.09 per cent. From that aspect, around US$400 million is what is within the content.”
Mudono traced his expertise in mineral processing back to 1995, when he successfully separated nickel from cobalt at the base metal level. In 2001, he spent six months in Sweden studying energy storage systems, working with a lecturer who was a consultant at Northrop Grumman. More recently, he spent two months in 2018 gaining experience with Peter Jarosz, a prominent figure in the battery materials space.
He is currently pursuing a PhD focused on converting lithium concentrate to lithium hydroxide, which he said is superior to lithium carbonate for electric vehicle batteries.
“Lithium hydroxide is better than lithium carbonate for electric vehicle batteries,” he said, noting that he is specifically working on petalite rather than spodumene because Zimbabwe holds one of the world’s largest petalite resources.
Mudono called on the government to establish a clear roadmap for value addition, moving beyond the current focus on concentrate production to full beneficiation.
“Why can’t we create a roadmap for this value-added segment so that we can come up with a solution at the end of the day, and Zimbabwe itself becomes a country that achieves those goals?” he asked.
He outlined the full value chain: from mining ore at 1.5 per cent lithium oxide, to producing concentrate, then converting it to lithium hydroxide through a high-temperature process exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius, and finally to end-user applications including batteries, ceramics, glass, lubricants, and electrical components.
“If we follow that, we won’t have any more challenges,” he said.
Mudono’s calculations provide empirical support for the government’s decision to suspend raw lithium exports on 25 February 2026. The lost value he identified—hundreds of millions of dollars in unreported caesium and tantalum alone—demonstrates the scale of revenue leakage that the ban seeks to address.
He noted that the DRC and Zambia have implemented cooperative funding models and state policies that Zimbabwe could learn from.
“They put money into that. It’s not easy. But they do it. They implement state policy,” he said.
For Zimbabwe, the path forward requires infrastructure development, investor confidence, and regional integration to secure its position as a critical player in the global electric-vehicle and energy-storage battery supply chain.
