"Zimbabwe’s lithium liability" May 2024

Zimbabwe’s largest lithium mine, Bikita Minerals, stands accused of polluting water sources in the southern Masvingo province and drawing unsustainably large volumes of water from a dam that is the lifeline of local residents. Last year, the mine discharged unknown effluent into the Matezva dam, which services a nearby irrigation scheme as well as hundreds of families from the parched Gutu and Bikita districts. It was fined US$5,000 by the Environmental Management Agency – the highest penalty for such offenders – and ordered to clean up the dam. Lithium is a strategic and critical mineral as the world transitions to clean energy. It is in demand to make batteries for phones, electric cars and solar storage, among other uses.

… Bikita Minerals is listed among the top five biggest lithium mines in Africa by output. It holds the world’s largest known lithium deposit, at approximately 11-million metric tons. Chinese company Sinomine Resource Group acquired Bikita Minerals, previously controlled by African Minerals Ltd, for US$180-million in January 2022, according to NewsDay. Sinomine was founded on June 2 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing. Milton Muusha, the Masvingo provincial head of the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), said in addition to the US$5,000 fine it imposed on Bikita Minerals last year, the agency had ordered Sinomine to clean up the Matezva dam within a month and the mine had complied with this order.

… Asked about the accusations that Bikita Minerals is extracting unsustainable amounts of water from the dam, company spokesperson Nikisi failed to respond. The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa), custodian of all water bodies in the country that also governs its use, sprang to the defence of Sinomine. “Allegations that Bikita Minerals is drawing large volumes of water from Matezva dam to the detriment of other water users are not true,” said Marjory Munyonga, the authority’s corporate and marketing officer. “Regardless of the volumes being drawn by the mine, Matezva dam still holds sufficient water to meet the needs of the mine, the irrigation scheme abstracting water from the dam as well as other downstream users… Sinomine has strong links with the government, which values lithium mining and in 2022 banned the export of raw, or unprocessed lithium, in an attempt to thwart artisanal miners digging up and taking it across borders, according to a Reuters report.