Mine-to-energy industrial park set for Mash West

  In an effort to value-add and beneficiate lithium, the government intends to build a mine-to-energy industrial park in Mapinga, Mashonaland West province. Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere said during yesterday's post-Cabinet briefing that Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga updated the Cabinet on the creation of the Mapinga mine-to-energy industrial park.  

  The interministerial committee in charge of the multimillion-dollar project is chaired by Hiwenga. Muswere stated that a coking plant with annual capacity of 1,2 million and 130 000 metric tons of coke and lithium salt, respectively, would be built as a result of the lithium value addition and beneficiation project. Together with supporting power supply and logistics, the project will also result in the development of two 300 megawatt power plants, a graphite processing plant, a nickel chromium alloy smelter, and a nickel sulphate factory. "The industrial park will be built in phases, with phase 1 starting in June 2024 and covering an area of 500 hectares. The project will include a government shareholding, according to Muswere.  

  The largest producer of lithium in Africa, Zimbabwe outlawed the export of lithium ore in 2022 in an effort to increase the mineral's benefits. The government granted lithium companies till the end of this month to submit their proposals for producing battery-grade lithium locally last year. Whether the producers had submitted plans could not be determined. The most recent government action, according to analysts, demonstrated how seriously it takes its intentions to increase Zimbabwe's mining profits.