$10m plant for tailings project to start soon

Business Reporter
CONSTRUCTION of a $10 million concentrate plant at Kamativi in Matabeleland North is expected to start soon after a mineral resource statement established that the Kamativi Tailings Lithium has a resource base amounting to 26,3 million tonnes.

In March this year, Jimbata, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zimbabwe Lithium Company commenced an evaluation exercise that entailed drilling holes to depths of 1 500 metres as well as sampling to determine the lithium resource in the tailings dumps at the former tin mine at Kamativi.

The tailings project is an operation by Kamativi Tailings Company (KTC), a joint venture between Jimbata and a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), Kamativi Tin Mines (KTM).

Independent consultant, MSA Group was engaged to determine the lithium resource in the tailings dumps at the former tin mine in Matabeleland North. In a statement, MSG Group said: “The maiden mineral resource statement at Kamativi Tailings Lithium project indicated resource amounting to 26 320 000 tonnes at 0,58 percent Li2O.”

Full lithium production at Kamativi is expected to begin by June next year. The consulting group said the much-anticipated finalisation of the mineral resource statement follows delays caused by arbitration proceedings between ZMDC and the Chinese firm Beijing Pingchang Investments.

“Last month, however, KTC was pleased to announce the completion of the arbitration proceedings that was undergoing in Zimbabwe relating to the mining rights of the Kamativi Tailings project and that such arbitration has been concluded in KTC’s favour with an award with costs,” said the consultant.

“The arbitration was initiated through an unsubstantiated claim by Beijing Pingchang Investments (the “claimant”) insinuating, through a Historical Joint Venture Agreement (“HJV”) with KTM that the claimant believed it had rights to the tailings material located at the disused tin mine.”

Zimbabwe Lithium Company managing director Mr John McTaggart was quoted saying the Kamativi tailings project was legally demarcated by a series of mining claims within the KTM mining lease number 12, which have been assigned by the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development to KTC.

“The Chinese company signed their HJV in September 2015 and to date have shown very little evidence of their commitment.

“ZL signed its agreement in February 2018 and has completed its drilling programme, announced its maiden indicated mineral resource statement and has commissioned the design and construction of its pilot plant, which will be in production by mid 2019 bringing much needed economic stimulation to the Kamativi area,” he said.

Before its closure in 1994 due to the depressed international price of tin, Kamativi Tin Mines was wholly-owned by ZMDC. It is hoped that as Kamativi re-opens, lithium would be the major mineral to be extracted under the $1,4 billion project where tin would also be extracted from the tailings dump. Lithium production is fast emerging as a potential game changer for Zimbabwe’s mining sector and economy at large as foreign investors have shown commitment towards the exploitation of the mineral.

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