Reserves, Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE), Construction and Operation Status of African Lithium Mines, Covering The World’s Top Ones

SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) – Africa is abundant with lithium ore reserves. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a total proven lithium reserves of 3 million mt in metal content, ranking top in Africa. The proven lithium ore resources in Africa are mainly distributed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Mali, etc. Manono, Goulamina and Arcadia are among the world’s top lithium mines.

1 Manono/Kitotolo

The Manono/Kitotolo project is the third largest lithium mine project in the world, and its resources are second only to Pilbara Pilgangoora and Thaleson. At present, the mine is mainly owned by AVZ Mineral and Tianhua Times. The production capacity of Manono mine will be expanded from the previous 700,000 mt of spodumene concentrate to 1.6 million mt, and its service life will be extended from 20 years to 29.5 years. Manono mine has signed lithium concentrate offtake agreements with a number of Chinese lithium salt companies. The proven lithium resources of the project is as high as 269 million mt. According to the feasibility study report released by AVZ in April 2020, the total ore reserves of the project can reach 400 million mt, and the average grade of lithium oxide is 1.65%, and its lithium resources contain 16.33 million mt of LCE. The project has lithium resource reserves of about 5.36 million mt of LCE.

2 Goulamina

The Goulamina lithium mine project is jointly owned by Firefinch and Ganfeng Lithium. It is one of the spodumene projects with the highest lithium oxide grade in the world. The mine is expected to be put into operation in early 2024. Ganfeng Lithium (50%) and Firefinch (50%) control Goulamina through the establishment of a joint venture Dutch SPV company. The project will have a production capacity of 500,000 mt of lithium concentrate in the first phase, and 800,000 mt in the second phase. According to the feasibility study report released in December 2021, the project is expected to have a raw ore production capacity of 4 million mt per year by 2024. According to the announcement of Ganfeng Lithium, the project has an ore reserves of 108 million mt, an average lithium oxide grade of 1.45%, and lithium oxide resources of 1.57 million mt, or 3.878 million mt of LCE.

3 Arcadia

Arcadia mine is located in the Mashonaland region of Zimbabwe, backed up by mature and stable transportation system. Prospect Resources, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huayou International Drilling, holds 100% equity in Arcadia. According to the announcement issued by Huayou Cobalt in December 2021, Huayou International Mining, a subsidiary of Huayou Cobalt, completed the acquisition of 100% equity in Prospect Resources for $422 million. According to the feasibility study report published in 2021, a facility with an annual ore processing capacity of 2.4 million mt will be built. The construction period is two years. After being completed, it will produce 147,000 mt of spodumene concentrate, 94,000 mt of technical-grade lithium permeable feldspar concentrate, 24,000 mtof chemical-grade lithium permeable feldspar concentrate, and 0.3 mt of tantalum concentrate per year. According to the JORC (2012) standard resource data of the Arcadia project released by Prospect Resources in October 2021, the project has a total ore volume of 72.7 million mt, with a lithium oxide grade of 1.06%, and contains 1.9 million mt of LCE.

 4 Bikita

Bikita mine has No. 1 mining right, which is valid permanently and has not changed ownership in the last three years. Bikita mine is one of the oldest lithium mines in Zimbabwe and the only lithium mine in production in Africa. The main products in the last three years are technical-grade lithium permeable feldspar concentrate and cesium garnet concentrate with high grade and low impurities. At present, Sinomine Resource Group is the main holder of the project. According to the project progress announcement of Sinomine Resource Group in February 2022, Bikita has 29.414 million mt of lithium ore resources, with an average Li2O grade of 1.17%, and contains 848,600 mt of LCE. The mine's lithium concentrate beneficiation capacity is 700,000 mt per year, and the average grade of lithium oxide is around 4-6%.

5 Bougouni

It is wholly owned by Minerals, who obtained a mining license in November 2021, which is valid for 12 years and can be renewed for 10 years until all resources are mined. The resources (indicated + inferred) of the three main mining areas of the Bougouni lithium project, Sogola-Baoule, Ngoualana, and Boumou, are 21.3 million mt. According to the feasibility study report released by Kodal Minerals in January 2020, the project can process 2 million mt of lithium ore on average per year and produce 220,000 mt of 6% spodumene concentrate.

In February 2019, the company announced that the updated JORC mineral resources of the Bougouni project were 21.3 million mt, with a Li2O content of 1.11%, of which 11.6 million mt were indicated resources, with a Li2O content of 1.13%, and an inferred resource of 9.7 million mt, with a Li2O content of 1.08%. This updated amount of mineral resources is 23% higher than the original amount announced in September 2018, with more than 55% of the resources now in the Indicated Category.