CLAIM: Zimbabwe has banned all lithium exports
SOURCE: Africa News and NewsDay
VERDICT: False
News articles here and here and social media posts claim that Zimbabwe has banned all exports of lithium, one of several minerals that are used in the making of batteries.
A report by Africa News said: “Zimbabwe has banned all lithium exports after the government said it was losing 1.7 billion euros from exporting it as a raw mineral and not processing it into batteries in-country.”
Another social media post said: “Zimbabwe has banned all lithium exports. Instead of exporting raw lithium, the country hopes to locally manufacture lithium batteries.”
The posts were widely shared online. However, the reports are misleading.
Under Statutory Instrument 213 released in December, the government decreed: “No lithium bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country.”
According to this regulation, “unbeneficiated lithium” is lithium that is not exempt from a 5% tax that is charged on minerals that are unprocessed, under the Value Added Tax Act. A perusal of that Act shows that the government defines “unbeneficiated lithium” as ore that has not been “crushed and separated by dense media separation, floatation or other appropriate techniques, and ground into powder or concentrate”.
This means that the regulation only affects ore that has not been crushed. Exporters of concentrates, a product that comes after the crushing described in the law, can still continue. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development Permanent Secretary Pfungwa Kunaka.
“The exportation of concentrates is not banned,” Kunaka was quoted as saying.
George Charamba, the spokesman for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said the regulation was enacted to respond to a rush for lithium ore by illegal miners in parts of the country.
According to Bloomberg, Deputy Mines Minister Polite Kambamura also explained that mining companies that are building processing plants will be excluded from the directive.
Mining in Zimbabwe
According to the US Department of Commerce, Zimbabwe’s lithium deposits are the largest in Africa and the country will become one of the world’s largest lithium exporters, with continued high international demand because of its importance to the battery industry.
An industry report published by Zimbabwe’s Chamber of Mines, which represents the country’s major mining firms, says the sector will experience a slower 7% growth next year, from a projected 8% this year.
“Prospects for mineral output growth for 2023 are generally lower than those recorded in 2022. Key risks to the outlook for 2023 include fragile power supply, high costs, foreign currency shortages, an unstable tax framework and capital shortages,” the report says.
Zimbabwe’s mining sector is highly diversified, with close to 40 different minerals. The predominant minerals include platinum group metals (PGM), chrome, gold, coal, and diamonds. The country boasts the second-largest platinum deposit and high-grade chromium ores in the world, with approximately 2.8 billion tons of PGM and 10 billion tons of chromium ore. The sector accounts for between 12 and 16 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Conclusion
Reports that Zimbabwe has banned all lithium exports are false and misleading. The country has only banned the sale of ore, to stop its export by illegal miners. Lithium miners in the country can still export concentrates.
