{"id":78195,"date":"2023-05-24T20:24:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T18:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting"},"modified":"2023-05-25T00:08:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T22:08:20","slug":"zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe shuts down Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals weeks after claims of lithium looting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Zimbabwe\u2019s largest lithium mine Bikita Minerals, currently owned by China\u2019s Sinomine Resource Group, has been ordered to suspend operations, reported New Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

It suspended operations at its Masvingo mine for seven days to address \u2018concerns raised by authorities\u2019 a few weeks after claims of looting were raised by a local watchdog.<\/p>\n

Mines and Mining Development deputy minister Polite Kambamura confirmed the suspension which came after an inter-ministerial audit last week, reported NewsDay.<\/p>\n

Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) Director Farai Maguwu on May 2 claimed massive looting of lithium at the mine. 42 trucks of lithium ore were said to be leaving the site on a daily basis, reported New Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

\u201cFellow Zimbabweans, the looting of our minerals at Bikita Minerals has reached another level. They are processing 754 tonnes of concentrate per day. 42 trucks loaded with lithium concentrate departing daily with the loot,\u201d said Maguwu.<\/p>\n

Bikita Minerals which employs 860 workers holds 11 million tonnes of lithium, the world\u2019s largest-known deposit of the mineral.<\/p>\n

\u201cIan Smith and his Rhodesian fellows used Zimbabwe\u2019s natural resources to build cities and a country that was worth fighting for. They left behind world-class infrastructure, great industries and factories, and a powerful currency. Above all, mining had linkages with all economic sectors,\u201d added Maguwu.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Sinomine Resource Group took over Bikita Minerals, which was at the time Zimbabwe\u2019s sole lithium-producing mine and one of Africa\u2019s oldest, in a USD 180 million deal last year.<\/p>\n

Lithium is being seen as Zimbabwe\u2019s way out of a three-decade-long economic crisis. Analysts have argued the mineral could also help circumvent the effects of trade and financial aid restrictions since the early 2000s, reported New Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

The Chinese miner invested a further USD 200 million to expand existing operations at Bikita, including the construction of two lithium processing plants to produce 250,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate and 480,000 tonnes of petalite per year.<\/p>\n

Spodumene is another key battery mineral, and petalite is a lithium mineral used in the glass and ceramic industries.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in a statement released on Monday, Bikita Minerals Mine Manager David Mwanza said they were working to clear issues raised without naming them, reported New Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis release serves to inform our stakeholders and partners that we have put operations at our plant on hold for seven days to address administrative concerns raised by authorities,\u2019 said Mwanza.<\/p>\n

Despite surges in production, working conditions reportedly deteriorated as workers were allegedly subjected to ill-treatment, poor remuneration, while being accommodated in inhumane facilities and were not registered with such statutory bodies as the National Social Security Authority.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe\u2019s largest lithium mine Bikita Minerals, currently owned by China\u2019s Sinomine Resource Group, has been ordered to suspend operations, reported New Zimbabwe. It suspended operations at its Masvingo mine for seven days to address \u2018concerns raised by authorities\u2019 a few weeks after claims of looting were raised by a local watchdog. Mines […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":78194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":["post-78195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nZimbabwe shuts down Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals weeks after claims of lithium looting - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zimbabwe\u2019s largest lithium mine Bikita Minerals, currently owned by China\u2019s Sinomine Resource Group, has been ordered to ...\" \/>\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\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zimbabwe shuts down Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals weeks after claims of lithium looting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zimbabwe\u2019s largest lithium mine Bikita Minerals, currently owned by China\u2019s Sinomine Resource Group, has been ordered to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T18:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T22:08:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/05\/sm_1684949807.686416.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"626\" \/>\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\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Zimbabwe shuts down Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals weeks after claims of lithium looting\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-24T18:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-24T22:08:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/05\/sm_1684949807.686416.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zimbabwe\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/zimbabwe-shuts-down-chinese-owned-bikita-minerals-weeks-after-claims-of-lithium-looting\",\"name\":\"Zimbabwe shuts down Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals weeks after claims of lithium looting - 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