Zimbabwe: Lithium becomes top export mineral with $2.16 billion in nine months
Lithium has become Zimbabwe's top export mineral after gold, with $2.16 billion in sales over the nine months ending September 30, 2026, nearly four times the total for the entire previous year. The figures were released on October 8, 2026, by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), the state agency that markets the country's minerals.
Lithium accounts for 45.6% of sales managed by the MMCZ, now surpassing platinum group metals, long a pillar of national revenue, which brought in $1.729 billion (36.5%). In total, excluding gold and silver, mineral sales more than doubled to $4.74 billion compared to $2.347 billion a year earlier, with volumes up 23.4% to 4.738 million tonnes, according to Mining Zimbabwe.
Price, then processing
A large part of the jump comes from prices: spodumene concentrate sold for an average of $1,483 per tonne compared to $387 a year earlier, a 283% increase noted by MMCZ General Manager Nomusa Moyo. But another part is indeed due to local processing. Lithium sulfate, a higher value-added product, generated $190.52 million for 33,807 tonnes exported, whereas no sales of this type were recorded during the same period in 2025. Ms. Moyo attributes the breakthrough to public value-addition policy and producer investments.
Who owns the factories?
This is where sovereignty is truly at stake. Chinese groups Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine, Sichuan Yahua, Chengxin Lithium, and Tsingshan have invested approximately $2 billion in Zimbabwe since 2021, reports FurtherAfrica. Huayou Cobalt began its lithium sulfate exports in April after completing a $400 million processing plant. Harare has therefore succeeded in having the ore processed on its soil; it remains to be seen what share of the profits stays there.
A record to be read with caution
Mining Zimbabwe offers another, more unsettling explanation: producers may have accelerated their shipments of concentrate ahead of the 2027 deadline, which is set to restrict the export of unprocessed lithium. Part of the record would therefore stem from an anticipation effect. The MMCZ expects fourth-quarter prices to be significantly higher than those of 2025, while warning that the abundance of raw material could slow the recovery of lithium. The real-world test will come in 2027, when the rule takes effect.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
