[SMM News] Sinomine’s Bikita to Lift Annual Spodumene Processing Capacity 50% to 3 million mt by Q2 2027

Savannah Resources is close to signing a second offtake agreement for its output from the Barroso lithium project in northern Portugal. A second offtake is a key step toward project financing, as lenders want 70%-75% of Barroso's future output contracted under long-term supply deals. The first offtake was signed in June 2024 for 45,000 mt/year of spodumene concentrate for five years, about 25% of planned output. Barroso hosts more than 39 million mt of spodumene resources, Europe's largest deposit of minerals. Further exploration could lift resources above 100 million mt and extend mine life beyond 50 years. Construction is on track for 2027 and production for 2028.

On October 8th, according to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), Zimbabwe's lithium export sales reached $2.16 billion in the nine months to September 30, nearly four times the total for last year. MMCZ said the increase was mainly due to a 283% rise in the price of spodumene concentrate, which accounted for $1.8 billion of lithium export income, followed by petalite at $155 million. $190 million in lithium sulphate sales were also recorded, with about 33,000 mt exported by the end of September. Most of Zimbabwe's lithium exports go to China. Lithium products have overtaken PGMs, $1.73 billion in 9M as Zimbabwe's largest mineral export after gold. Total mineral sales, excluding gold, doubled to $4.74 billion year on year