Zimbabwe losing billions

Zimbabwe continues to miss out on billions of dollars in potential revenue by exporting largely unprocessed minerals, despite government efforts to accelerate beneficiation and value addition in the mining sector.

Beneficiation involves processing minerals locally to increase their value before export. Although it has become a key government policy priority, persistent raw mineral exports have raised questions about the pace of implementation and the country's ability to maximise returns from its vast mineral resources.

Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) general manager Dr Nomusa Moyo said the contribution of further mineral processing to export earnings was beginning to emerge, although significant potential remained untapped.

"This demonstrates the contribution that further processing is beginning to make to export earnings," Moyo said.

The difference between the value of raw minerals and processed products illustrates the potential economic benefits of expanding Zimbabwe's refining and processing capacity.

According to figures provided, raw lithium ore can fetch approximately US$50 per tonne, while processed battery-grade lithium can command prices of up to US$22,000 per tonne. However, the prices relate to different products and processing stages, and the comparison does not account for the costs of refining, production and other inputs.

Several obstacles continue to hamper the country's beneficiation drive, including electricity shortages affecting smelters, inadequate refining capacity and abrupt export bans on raw minerals before the necessary processing infrastructure is in place.

These constraints have slowed the development of domestic processing facilities and limited the potential economic benefits of exporting higher-value products.

Despite the challenges, Zimbabwe's mineral export earnings, excluding gold and silver, more than doubled to US$4.735 billion in the first nine months of the year, according to the figures provided. The growth was attributed to strong lithium demand and higher commodity prices.

Export volumes increased by 23.4%, rising from 3.84 million tonnes to 4.738 million tonnes over the period.

In September alone, mineral export sales reached US$685.03 million, representing a 116.6% increase compared with the same month last year.

Lithium was among the leading revenue earners, generating approximately US$430 million in export value.

Moyo attributed lithium's performance partly to government-led beneficiation initiatives and investment by producers.

"We attribute lithium's emergence as the leading revenue earner to the beneficiation work being driven by Government, alongside producers' investment and operational efforts," she said.

Combined sales of spodumene, petalite and lithium sulphate were estimated at US$2.159 billion, accounting for 45.6% of total mineral export earnings.

Platinum group metals (PGMs) contributed approximately US$1.729 billion, representing 36.5% of total sales.

The export figures point to the growing importance of lithium and other strategic minerals to Zimbabwe's mining revenues. However, higher earnings do not necessarily mean that the country is capturing the full value available through domestic processing.

Continued exports of largely unprocessed minerals, together with concerns about illicit mineral flows and undeclared co-minerals, underline the need for stronger oversight and further investment in local processing capacity.

Zimbabwe's challenge is to translate rising mineral demand into sustainable domestic industrial development, more skilled jobs and greater export earnings by ensuring that beneficiation policies are matched by reliable electricity supplies, adequate infrastructure and a predictable regulatory environment.