{"id":4361,"date":"2026-02-04T02:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T02:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant"},"modified":"2026-02-05T02:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:39:42","slug":"zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Africa\u2019s first lithium sulfate production plant, a move seen as a strategic shift in how the country leverages its mineral wealth and strengthens its position in global clean-energy supply chains.<\/p>\n<p>The new facility, developed by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe and financed by China\u2019s Huayou Cobalt, has reached the equipment commissioning phase at the Bikita Mine. Investments in the project total around $500 million, making it one of the country\u2019s most significant industrial developments in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>According to company CEO Henry Zhou, the plant is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of the current year, with an annual capacity exceeding 60,000 tons of lithium sulfate. Lithium is often referred to as \u201cwhite gold,\u201d as it is a core component in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems.<\/p>\n<p>The establishment of the plant also represents a shift from exporting raw materials to producing higher value-added products, giving Zimbabwe a greater opportunity to benefit from its mineral resources. This investment strengthens the country\u2019s role as a key participant in the global transition to clean energy and opens the door to further industrialization in an economy heavily reliant on natural resources.<\/p>\n<p><b>African leadership and Chinese presence<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Zimbabwe is already Africa\u2019s largest lithium producer, having led continental production in 2024. Output is expected to reach 160,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2030. Despite a global decline in lithium prices of around 90% since 2022, the country has continued to increase exports, selling more than 586,000 tons of spodumene concentrate in the first half of 2025\u2014an increase of 30% year on year.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2021, Chinese companies have invested approximately $1.4 billion in Zimbabwe\u2019s lithium sector, including Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine, Tsingshan, Yahua and Chengxin. This growing presence reflects Zimbabwe\u2019s strategic importance in meeting rising global demand for critical minerals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press. Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Africa\u2019s first lithium sulfate production plant, a move seen as a strategic shift in how the country leverages its mineral wealth and strengthens its position in global clean-energy supply chains. The new facility, developed by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe and financed by China\u2019s Huayou Cobalt, has reached the equipment commissioning [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-4361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press. Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Afric ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press. Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Afric ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Africa Press English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T02:04:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-05T02:39:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1167\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T02:04:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-05T02:39:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant\"},\"wordCount\":321,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant\",\"name\":\"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant - Africa Press English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T02:04:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-05T02:39:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press. Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Afric ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg\",\"width\":1556,\"height\":1167,\"caption\":\"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press English\",\"description\":\"\u0623\u0648\u0644 \u0645\u0648\u0642\u0639 \u0625\u0641\u0631\u064a\u0642\u064a \u064a\u0643\u062a\u0628 \u0628\u0644\u063a\u0629 \u0628\u0644\u062f\u0627\u0646\u0647\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant - Africa Press English","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press. Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Afric ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press. Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Afric ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant","og_site_name":"Africa Press English","article_published_time":"2026-02-04T02:04:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-05T02:39:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1556,"height":1167,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant","datePublished":"2026-02-04T02:04:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-05T02:39:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant"},"wordCount":321,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg","keywords":["Africa"],"articleSection":["Economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant","name":"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant - Africa Press English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-04T02:04:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-05T02:39:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press. Zimbabwe is preparing to inaugurate Afric ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/02\/sm_1770258970.016379.jpg","width":1556,"height":1167,"caption":"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/zimbabwe-to-open-africas-first-lithium-sulfate-plant#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zimbabwe to Open Africa\u2019S First Lithium Sulfate Plant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/","name":"Africa Press English","description":"\u0623\u0648\u0644 \u0645\u0648\u0642\u0639 \u0625\u0641\u0631\u064a\u0642\u064a \u064a\u0643\u062a\u0628 \u0628\u0644\u063a\u0629 \u0628\u0644\u062f\u0627\u0646\u0647","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}