[SMM Analysis] Kamativi Miner Flags Resource Constraints as Beneficiation Timeline Tightens

Kamativi Mining Company (KMC) has told Zimbabwean lawmakers that individual mine economics and resource life must be factored into the country's lithium beneficiation policy, warning that processing mandates need to align with the geological realities of each operation.

KMC Chief Operating Officer Turkey Liang made the comments before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development during a fact-finding visit to the company's Kamativi site in Matabeleland North. Liang said KMC backs the government's drive to end unprocessed lithium exports but cautioned that mines vary in resource profile and may not all support large-scale downstream investment on the same timeline.

Kamativi, a former tin mine that closed in 1994, was revived as a lithium operation. KMC's current mining plan carries a high stripping ratio and limited surface resources: open-pit reserves are estimated to support around five years of mining, while the broader lithium resource at current depths could sustain roughly 10 years of extraction before requiring a shift to underground mining. The company's resource estimate, updated May 2024, stands at 24.2 million tonnes grading 1.25% Li2O.

Despite the constraints, KMC is proceeding with its US$200 million lithium sulphate project, converting spodumene concentrate into lithium sulphate at a planned capacity of 75,000 t/yr, with commissioning targeted for July 2027. The company is also pursuing further mineral recovery from its pegmatite resource beyond lithium, including projects still in development.

Liang cited regulatory friction affecting the sulphate project's cash flow: a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) change to export documentation shifting from a single document covering up to 50 trucks to individual paperwork per truck created processing delays severe enough that KMC was running low on cash and considering production cuts in March. ZIMRA has since reverted to the 50-truck arrangement.

SMM View: KMC's testimony highlights a structural tension in Zimbabwe's lithium beneficiation drive as the January 2027 concentrate export ban approaches mandatory local processing only creates durable value if feedstock life supports the capital cost of the plant. With Kamativi's open-pit mine life estimated at roughly five years against a 75,000 t/yr lithium sulphate facility targeting mid-2027 commissioning, the underlying resource base and the eventual pivot to underground mining will be a key variable in whether Zimbabwe's downstream lithium salts capacity delivers on its beneficiation targets. SMM will continue tracking Kamativi's sulphate project timeline alongside peer sulphate builds elsewhere in Zimbabwe's lithium sector.