[SMM News] Lohum dispatches first Zimbabwe lithium ore

Published: Sep 14, 2026 22:58

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Lohum Cleantech has dispatched its first lithium ore shipment from Zimbabwe's Matabeleland South Province, starting production at the Indian company's first overseas mine and marking, by its own account, the first such extraction by an Indian producer abroad.

Lohum holds 10 spodumene blocks across roughly 1,100 hectares, estimated to contain 30-40 million tonnes of ore and yield about 300,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over the mine's life. At current prices, the company values the in-situ resource at roughly US$7 billion, though it notes this is not a project valuation or return forecast. Ore will be processed initially in Zimbabwe, then refined into lithium carbonate in India. Lohum plans local processing capacity ahead of Zimbabwe's January 2027 concentrate export ban, and holds preferred rights over up to 90 adjacent blocks.

The entry adds new supply to Zimbabwe's spodumene base, already a key feedstock source amid steady global battery-demand growth. Lohum's upstream move mirrors a broader trend of overseas refiners securing African feedstock, while Zimbabwe's 2027 export ban will steer more of this supply toward in-country beneficiation rather than raw concentrate exports. Lohum operates across primary production, battery recycling, refining, and advanced materials. In 2022 it signed a US$200 million deal to supply Glencore with 10,000 tonnes of recycled battery specialty chemicals over five years.

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