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Zimbabwe gives lithium miners deadline for refinery plans

Published

12 months ago

December 1, 2023

Zimbabwe has given lithium miners a deadline to present outlines for the local production of battery-grade lithium in a bid to benefit from the growing demand for the clean energy mineral.

During the presentation of the national budget for 2024 on Thursday, Mthuli Ncube, the minister of finance, stated that the government did not consider the current concentrate production in the country to be beneficiation, which is the process of improving raw minerals to add value.

Due to the widespread use of rechargeable lithium batteries in the expanding markets for electric vehicles, portable electronics, electric tools, and grid storage applications, lithium consumption for batteries has increased dramatically in recent years.

“Any lithium value addition process that does not result in the production of lithium carbonate is not regarded as beneficiation. Lithium-producing companies should submit their beneficiation plans no later than 31 March 2024,” Ncube said.

He added that no new licences would be granted to prospective lithium miners without approved beneficiation plans.

Some of the largest hard-rock lithium reserves in the world are found in Zimbabwe, and Chinese miners Sinomine Resource Group, Chengxin Lithium Group, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Yahua Group, and Canmax Technologies have invested over $1 billion in these reserves.

Sinomine, a company that recently put its $300 million spodumene concentrator at its Bikita mine in southern Zimbabwe into service, announced on the same day that it had begun feasibility studies to produce battery-grade lithium in Zimbabwe.

Huayou, a competitor, stated that it would investigate local production of lithium sulphate “only when the construction and economic conditions are right.” Huayou purchased the Arcadia mine, which is located just outside of Harare in 2022 and built a concentrator that began production earlier this year.

According to to 2022 report, the global end-use markets for lithium are estimated to be as follows: batteries, 74%; ceramics and glass, 14%; lubricating greases, 3%; continuous casting mould flux powders, 2%; polymer production, 2%; air treatment, 1%; and other uses, 4%. Lithium markets vary depending on the location.

With $209 million in revenue during the first nine months of 2023, gold and platinum group metals (PGM) are Zimbabwe’s two largest mineral exports.

Related Topics:Featured Lithium Zimbabwe

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Food prices drive second straight monthly hike in Nigeria’s inflation

Published

17 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to official statistics released on Friday, Nigeria’s inflation rate increased for the second consecutive month in October, rising to 33.88% in annual terms from 32.70% in September, mostly as a result of increasing food costs.

In an attempt to boost economic development and strengthen public finances, President Bola Tinubu devalued the naira and reduced subsidies, which caused inflation to spike in the second half of last year.

As the effects of the naira devaluation started to lessen in July of this year, a slew of hikes in the price of petroleum and devastating floods that destroyed crops once again exacerbated pricing pressures, making the greatest cost-of-living crisis in decades worse in Africa’s most populous country.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, price increases for basics such as rice, maize, bread, potatoes, and cooking oil prompted food inflation to surge from 37.77% in October to 39.16% year over year.

This year, more than 1.5 million hectares of agriculture have been damaged by torrential rain and floods in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states, leaving millions hungry and displacing large numbers of people.

In an effort to curb inflation, the central bank has raised interest rates five times this year. On November 26, it is expected to make its final rate decision of the year.

VenturesNow

MTN financial report reveals drop in group service revenue

Published

17 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Due to operational difficulties in Sudan and the depreciation of the Nigerian naira, MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom provider, announced on Thursday an 18.5% decline in service revenue for the third quarter that concluded on September 30.

With 288 million users in 17 African regions, MTN said that its group service revenue dropped from 156.3 billion rand ($6.99 billion) in the same quarter of the previous year to 127.4 billion rand.

Despite stating that “the naira was less volatile on a sequential basis in Q3 than in preceding quarters,” the business reported a 48.7% decline in MTN Nigeria’s income due to the currency’s depreciation.

Due to a stronger Ugandan shilling than the previous year, Uganda’s largest contributor, MTN South Africa (MTN SA), expanded by a meagre 3.3%.

Due to “subscriber registration regulations in Nigeria and a decline in users in Sudan, where the conflict has displaced millions of people,” the business reported that its subscriber base increased by 1.6% to 288 million.

Given the higher demand in Nigeria despite the legal obstacles, MTN plans to increase its capital expenditures, which it expects would total between 28 and 33 billion rand for the entire year.