A LITHIUM frenzy has gripped the world and for a good reason.
It appears the world has redirected its focus to lithium which is being hyped as the new oil, the ‘white petroleum’.
Steadily the world is moving away from dirty to cleaner fuels; from oil-propelled to electric vehicles (EVs).
Electric car companies such as Tesla are planning to make more of these batteries, used in EVs, annually in just one factory by 2020 than were produced worldwide in 2013.
Until recently, lithium was mostly used in the production of aluminium, ceramics and glass, but lithium-ion batteries are now the biggest growth area.
And Zimbabwe has not been left out in this lithium craze considering it has one of the largest deposit of the mineral in the world.
In 1980, The Times of London reported from the newly independent Zimbabwe that the state contained ‘the world’s largest lithium resource’, located in the southern part of the country at the Bikita tin field.
At one stage, the country was the fifth largest producer of lithium and exported to Europe, North America and Asia.
Since 1911, the country’s lithium has been exploited by the West.
British capital played a key role in extraction of resources during the colonial period, especially in Zimbabwe.
And it must be remembered that during this period, the Rhodesian era, the Rhodesian dollar was at par with the British pound and more valuable than the US dollar.
The competition to find and control sources of raw materials, including minerals, was one of the main drivers of European penetration and eventual colonial partition of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th Century.
Africa’s vast resources were plundered to support the development of Britain and other European powers, while contributing minimally to the development of the continent.
Indeed, Africans have little to show for centuries of exploitation of their mineral resources.
Europeans took lithium at the cheapest possible price.
And now, Zimbabwe’s lithium is back in the news.
Zimbabwe is among the leading lithium concentrate producing countries in the world with an estimated reserve of 23 000 million metric tonnes.
The country is sitting on the worlds’ most sought after commodity, with abundance of lithium-bearing minerals such as the petalites, spodemene, amblygonites and lepidolites, which have made it prominent on the world lithium market.
But a visit by The Patriot to Bikita Minerals; located in Bikita, Masvingo, supposed to be the core of the mineral, found there is nothing to show for it.
This three-to-five-kilometre landscape on the Mutare-Masvingo Highway lies at the heart of the world’s mad scramble for lithium; a mineral essential to the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles made by companies such as Apple, Samsung and major automakers.
Nevertheless, in Zimbabwe, lithium still remains insignificant.
In fact, statistics on the ground show that lithium has contributed very little to the economy.
Most of the petalite mineral mined at Bikita is used directly as ore concentrate in ceramics and glass applications in Zimbabwe and the surrounding region rather than feedstock for lithium carbonate and other lithium compounds.
On the other hand, bulk prices have been reported to be as low as US$147 a tonne of petalite concentrate compared to US$6 600, US$ 8 500 and US$23 150 a tonne of processed lithium carbonate, lithium chloride and lithium fluoride respectively.
Sadly, lithium is not even tabulated on the Mining Output annexure of the national budget statement for 2018.
Nor is it tabulated on the value of minerals, mineral export drivers and mineral output released by the Chamber of Mines.
But black granite is there and fetching double the price to a tonne of lithium on the market.
At Bikita Minerals, tonnes and tonnes of high grade lithium ore concentrate with a grading 4,5 to 7,3 percent and a 52 standard mash size are being exported to a Chinese company called BOTT.
Some of the ore concentrate is exported to Europe and North America while the remainder is for local potteries and glass manufacturing companies.
And for the Bikita community, lithium’s waste by-product known as scouring powder or ‘vim’ they sell along the highway is the only benefit they are getting from lithium mining.
Although many small deposits are known and have been worked on in the past, the production of lithium in Zimbabwe has been mainly centred on the Bikita mine which has a complex of large pegmatites occurring on the greenstone belt over a distance of about three-to-five kilometres.
Other lithium deposits in Zimbabwe occur in the Rushinga, Mberengwa, Buhera, Goromonzi, Gwanda, Insiza, Matobo, Mazoe, Mutoko, Harare, Mutare, Kamativi and Hwange districts.
Pegmatite deposits in Zimbabwe contain significant amounts of lithium and Bikita pegmatite is one of the world’s largest lithium deposit.
A pegmatite is an intrusive igneous rock composed of interlocking mineral grains.
The Bikita pegmatite area is divided into the Al Hayat, Bikita, Southern and Nigel sectors, and it is distinctly zoned.
Bikita Minerals is the only lithium mine in the world capable of producing both petalite and spodumene as well as pollucite, lepidolite, feldspar, amblygonite and eucryptite.
In fact, eucryptite is only found at Bikita Minerals.
The mine was originally dominated by lepidolite (most of it has been mined).
It also has large amounts of spodumene, petalite and amblygonite.
Spodumene and Amblogonite has the highest amount of lithium ranging from six-to-9,5 percent.
Mine manager, David Mwanza said large indicated and undeveloped spodumene reserves are on the property and will be proved and prepared for mining when the market justifies development.
Nonetheless, in the last few years, demand for lithium has surged.
Lithium is now one of the most strategically important minerals.
Said Mwanza: “There is a misconception out there about lithium.
Lithium mined by Bikita Minerals is being used only for ceramics, kitchenware and glasses and not batteries as purported by some people out there.
Our markets are potteries in Bulawayo, Gweru Delta and small furnaces warehouses in Japan.
The rest of the petalite is sold to Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ).”
Bikita Minerals production foreman, Orien Dhliwayo said Bikita Minerals does not have the machinery and capacity for further processing of lithium carbonate needed for the battery revolution.

New kid on the block?
While the Arcadia mine is being touted as a new discovery, that is far from the truth.
Arcadia, between 1954 and 1972 (production was intermittent), produced more than 15 000 tonnes of mixed lithium ore in the country.
Two rounds of historical drilling in 1969 and 1981 confirmed that the pegmatite extends at least 1 500 metres along strike at a high grade.
The prospect is 35 km north-east of Harare.
In fact, the camp now under option by Prospect Resources has seen five mining operations.
Arcadia itself variously produced eucryptite, petalite, mixed lithium ore and feldspar.
Three others – Arc, Bing and Green Mamba – in the period 1953-1972 produced small quantities of the mineral beryl, while Winston in the 1950s and 1960s mined lepidolite from a predominately broad lithium-rich pegmatite.
Again, this lithium was all taken to Europe, North America and the Far East.
And an Australian company, Prospect Resources, is coming in again to resume mining at Arcadia.
Australia was the world’s top lithium producer in 2017, with production of 14 300 metric tonnes.
Prospect Resources executive director, Harry Greaves said the first phase of the lithium mine is to produce petalite and spodumene concentrates through a standard crushing, DMS (Dense Media Separation) and flotation circuit.
“Ground breaking for stage one is expected in the first quarter of 2018 with a 14-month lead time for mine development and plant construction before production commences,” said Greaves.
Yet again, lithium will be exported in its raw form.
It will only be in later phases that Prospect Resources envisage production of battery grade lithium carbonate.
“This is a significantly bigger investment and a technological leap. Nothing of this scale has yet been done in Africa,” said Greaves.
“Prospect Resources have already produced 99,8 percent lithium carbonate under laboratory conditions, a phenomenal achievement – possibly the first time battery grade lithium carbonate has been produced in Africa.
“On the back of this success, we are busy constructing a pilot scale lithium Carbonate Pilot plant which will allow us to demonstrate the practicality of producing lithium carbonate from petalite rich ores.”
According to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, lithium concentrates with a grading five-to-six percent lithium oxide is exported through off-take agreements at prices of about US$600 a tonne, but upon beneficiation, the resultant lithium carbonate is sold at prices ranging from US$15 000 to US$20 000 a tonne.
Why lithium now?
Lithium is the most electronegative of all the metals, with a standard electrode potential of 3 045 volts, meaning it can generate the greatest power per unit mass compared to other metals.
The global market for lithium-ion batteries has increased by more than 20 percent per year in the past few years and the use of lithium-ion batteries in upcoming electric and hybrid vehicles could further increase demand for the metal.
Electric vehicles are about to reach tipping point in penetration and, as a result, investment in battery technology and production is rising rapidly
China targets 20 percent of vehicle production to be EV by 2020.
Britain has set 2040 as the deadline for all vehicle sales to be EV, and by 2050, all cars should have zero emissions, while France has set 2040 as deadline for all vehicle sales EV/hybrid.
Lithium carbonate consumption per 1 kilowatt hour ( kWhr) is estimated at 0,6 kg and the average battery capacity of an electric vehicle (Tesla) is 25 kWhr translating to a lithium carbonate equivalent of 15 kg.
Lithium-ion batteries are lighter, have longer shelf life and they do not have a ‘memory effect’ problem (that is, the amount of energy stored decreasing if the battery is charged before being fully discharged).
Owing to these merits, lithium-ion batteries are now the preferred energy storage devices for laptops, camcorders, mobile phones and other portable electrical devices.
But that’s not the only uses of lithium.
Even aircrafts like the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, for example (which today is the most efficient and farthest-flying airliner in the world), is made of an aluminium-lithium alloy.
Wings and other parts of aircrafts are made of aluminium-lithium alloys as it reduces weight, allowing significant fuel saving during the lifespan of the aircraft.
Lithium is also used in the glass and ceramic industry, in the aluminium smelting process, as flux and in UV optics.
Apart from its standard use in the glass and ceramic industry, lithium compounds are used as catalysts and reagents in the production of synthetic rubbers, plastics and pharmaceutical drugs such contraceptives, steroids, tranquilisers, vitamin A and anti-cholesterol agents, while lithium carbonate is used in the treatment of manic-depressive psychosis
It is also used in industrial air-conditioning and commercial dehumidification of air because of the low vapour pressure of their solutions, low viscosity and high stability.
Lithium is also used in the grease industry.
Lithium-based greases have good lubricating properties over a wide range of shear and temperatures, ranging from -15 to 200 degrees celsius.
In addition, they have good resistance to water, hardening and oxidation.
These greases have found use on aircrafts, the automotive industries as well as marine and military equipment.
Lithium is also used in dyes and pigments as an additive for increasing solubility in dyestuffs and increasing brilliance of pigments.
This is what Zimbabwe is losing out by exporting its lithium as ore concentrate.
The country has lost out on major ‘commodity booms’ enjoyed elsewhere.
If only this time Zimbabwe could do the right thing and be part of this battery revolution.