- The China-headquartered mining company has been granted a further 300,000-tonne lithium export quota.
- Sinomine says lithium supply from its Bikita mine has returned to normal following the earlier stoppage.
- Chinese firms have invested roughly $2 billion in Zimbabwe’s lithium sector since 2021.
By Nelson Banya and Chris Takudzwa Muronzi
SINOMINE Resource Group 002738.SZ has secured an export quota for an additional 300,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate from Zimbabwe, the company has said.
Zimbabwe, Africa’s top producer of battery metal lithium, introduced export quotas in April after temporarily halting concentrate shipments in February over alleged malpractice and leakages.
The country has been pressing mining firms operating within it to process more of the battery metal locally as it seeks to maximise the economic benefits of extractive industries. It will ban the export of lithium concentrates from January 2027.
Sinomine, which operates the Bikita lithium mine in Zimbabwe, said in a half-year report seen by Reuters on Tuesday it was granted the additional export quota in July after getting the first, for 200,000 tons, in April.
The Chinese company said the supply of lithium concentrate from Bikita had returned to normal after the February to April stoppages and was sufficient to meet the raw material requirements of its smelting operations in China.
Chinese firms dominate Zimbabwe’s lithium sector
Sinomine operates two plants at Bikita with a combined capacity to produce 600,000 tons of spodumene concentrate, the dominant feedstock for many lithium plants, as well as petalite concentrate, another lithium-bearing mineral concentrate.
A recent technical upgrade will boost Bikita’s yearly spodumene concentrate production capacity to 400,000 tons, Sinomine said.
Sinomine says it is building a 100,000 ton per year lithium sulphate plant at Bikita which is expected to be completed in mid-2027.
Lithium sulphate is an intermediate product that can be refined into a battery-grade material such as lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate used in battery manufacturing.
Another Chinese miner, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt 603799.SS, currently operates Zimbabwe’s sole lithium sulphate plant, from which it began Africa’s first ever lithium salt exports in April.
Sichuan Yahua 002497.SZ is also building a lithium sulphate plant at its Kamativi mine in western Zimbabwe.
Chinese firms dominate Zimbabwe’s lithium sector after investing about $2 billion in mining and processing plants since 2021, consolidating the Asian giant’s grip on the global battery metal supply chain.
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