Sandawana lithium resource nears 40 million tonnes

State-owned Mutapa Energy Resources (MER) has announced that exploration at its Sandawana Mine in Mberengwa has confirmed nearly 40 million tonnes of lithium resources, marking a significant milestone for one of Zimbabwe's strategic mining projects.

Speaking at a recent press conference, MER Chief Executive Officer Innocent Rukweza said a JORC-compliant resource assessment had confirmed 39.9 million tonnes of lithium resources on Block A, which represents only 30% of Sandawana's total mining claims.

The remaining 70% of the mining area is yet to be explored, suggesting the resource base could increase substantially as exploration continues.

Rukweza said the project stands out because of the unusually high proportion of measured resources, which provide the highest level of geological confidence.

"It is my singular honour to announce that we are, from the best of our knowledge, the first Zimbabwean mine with measured resources constituting 72% of our total resource.

"The resource that has been confirmed by JORC is 39.9 million tonnes, of which 28.7 million tonnes are measured.

"It means the resource is certain and bankable," he said.

The company undertook an extensive exploration programme over 11 months, drilling more than 103,000 metres and analysing 33,000 samples to establish the resource estimate.

Rukweza said the first phase of exploration required an investment of US$24 million.

"Of our exploration on Block A, and all in all, we did an exploration of 103,000 metres. It was a very aggressive exercise that took us 11 months for us to complete, and we had 33,000 samples that were collected and tested to come up with these results.

"The first phase of our exploration cost us US$24 million, just to do the exploration of the results that we are sitting on," he said.

In addition to lithium, the exploration programme identified six associated minerals within the deposit. However, only tantalum and niobium were found in quantities considered economically viable for extraction alongside the lithium resource.

MER has already mined approximately two million tonnes of ore from Sandawana and is constructing a concentrator plant with the capacity to process three million tonnes of ore annually. Supporting infrastructure for the project is also under development.

Rukweza said the confirmed resource provides a solid platform for expanding mining operations while further exploration is carried out across the remaining 70% of the mine's claims.

The latest findings reinforce Sandawana's strategic importance as Zimbabwe seeks to strengthen its position as one of Africa's leading lithium producers, amid growing global demand for battery minerals used in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.