Sinomine Resource Group announced on Wednesday that its lithium mining unit in Zimbabwe had resumed operations following the resolution of labor management and other regulatory issues.
Sinomine’s wholly-owned Bikita Minerals, Zimbabwe’s oldest lithium mine, halted operations on May 15th for government inspections.
Sinomine said in a statement that Bikita Minerals had resumed operations after “special inspections and rectifications on labor management and other related issues of subcontractors.”
Southern Africa’s economically struggling nation is banking on increased demand for battery minerals as a result of the global push toward cleaner energy.
Sinomine paid $180 million for Bikita Minerals in January 2022 and spent another $200 million expanding the mine’s operations, including the construction of two lithium processing plants with an annual output of 250,000 tons of spodumene concentrate and 480,000 tons of petalite.
Petalite is a lithium mineral that is used in the glass and ceramics industries, and spodumene is a mineral that is required for batteries. Both facilities are scheduled to open in July.
Zimbabwe has some of the world’s largest hard rock lithium deposits, so Chinese companies such as Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Chengxin Lithium Group, and Canmax Technologies have recently invested more than $700 million there.
