Zimbabwe's State-owned mining firm Mutapa Energy Resources has begun clearing land for a US$330 million lithium processing plant at Sandawana in Mberengwa, Midlands Province, as the country prepares to ban raw concentrate exports in December 2026.
The breakthrough, reported by NewZimbabwe.com, emerged during a parliamentary portfolio committee visit to the mine on Wednesday, when MER chief executive Innocent Rukweza outlined the investment plans, the infrastructure works now underway and the policy battles still facing the project.
Zimbabwe takes back its mineral wealth
This is what economic independence looks like. For years, foreign interests carted away Zimbabwe's minerals in raw form, processing them abroad and pocketing the real value while our people got crumbs. Sandawana ends that shameful chapter.
Contractors have moved onto the site to clear ground for the concentrator and an associated power plant. Access roads are under construction, temporary accommodation for workers is rising, and the open pit is being expanded into what Rukweza called a super pit to feed increased ore production.
“We have started clearing the site where we intend to construct the lithium concentrate plant, as well as the power plant,” Rukweza told legislators.
He reported significant progress since an earlier visit, when the proposed construction area was still largely bush-covered. The concentrator is expected to process three million tonnes of ore annually, with commissioning targeted for next year. Zimbabwe Situation reports that the mine has already extracted 2,9 million tonnes of lithium ore since January as it races to meet the beneficiation deadline.
From failed promises to sovereign financing
Let no one forget the history here. An earlier attempt to build a local processing plant, estimated at US$200 million, collapsed after the domestic market raised barely US$20 million. The same Western-dominated financial system that smothers our economy with sanctions starved this project of capital.
“The local market could not raise that amount. I think we managed to raise about US$20 million, if not less,” Rukweza said.
Today the story is different. The current project is financed through an investor consortium that includes Chinese partners, proof that Zimbabwe will build its industrial future with friends who respect our sovereignty, not with those who lecture us while strangling our economy. MER has not disclosed individual funding commitments, but the money is on the ground.
The company has already invested more than US$65 million in supporting infrastructure, including a 52-kilometre access road, electricity transmission and a water pipeline. More than 18 kilometres of detailed road works are complete, with substantial progress targeted by March next year.
Community shares in the progress
Development mining means the host community is a shareholder in progress, not a bystander. The expansion affects 104 families and 69 graves, and MER has faced that responsibility squarely. Twenty-eight households have been relocated, 76 await relocation, and reburials involving all 69 graves have been conducted with dignity under the guidance of two traditional chiefs.
Each affected household will receive half a hectare for drip irrigation under livelihood support programmes. The water challenge remains real: several boreholes have been drilled, but some have not yielded expected results.
“We have drilled several boreholes, but some have not yielded the expected results. We are continuing to explore ways of addressing the water challenges,” Rukweza said. Specialists are developing a water management plan, and more than 89 pedigree cattle have been secured under compensation arrangements, currently under quarantine while beneficiaries receive training to manage them in dry conditions.
Vision 2030 built from the ground up
Remigio Matangira, chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development, told the delegation that Sandawana reflects the nation's ambitions for beneficiation, local participation and community development.
“What we have witnessed at Sandawana complements Vision 2030. This is not extractive mining, this is development mining,” Matangira said.
“When a company invests in schools, clinics, police stations, water and roads, it is conforming to empowerment and development of local communities where mining activities are taking place.”
“That is how we build an upper-middle-income economy, from the ground up, with the host community as a shareholder in progress, not a bystander,” he added.
The fight ahead for beneficiation
Beyond the concentrator, MER is considering a lithium sulphate plant next year, which would push Sandawana further up the battery materials value chain. The Financial Gazette reports that the government is pressing mining companies to process more minerals locally and retain value within Zimbabwe's borders.
Rukweza warned that the operating environment could still undermine domestic processing, citing electricity constraints, taxation, export quotas, administrative procedures and the high cost of doing business. Referring to findings by a consultancy benchmark, he called for a stronger mining fiscal and regulatory framework and firmer institutional support for companies investing in beneficiation.
His warning deserves sober attention. Zimbabwe cannot demand beneficiation and then tax and choke the very companies that answer the call. The December 2026 export restrictions will compel producers to build local processing capacity, and the State must now clear every administrative obstacle in their path.
The message from Sandawana is unmistakable: Zimbabwe's lithium will no longer leave this land as raw ore. It will leave as value, built by Zimbabwean hands, for Zimbabwean prosperity.
FAQ
What is being built at Sandawana?
Mutapa Energy Resources is constructing a US$330 million lithium concentrator plant in Mberengwa, Midlands Province, with an annual processing capacity of three million tonnes of ore.
When will the Sandawana lithium plant be commissioned?
MER is targeting commissioning next year, with substantial progress on infrastructure expected by March.
When do Zimbabwe's lithium concentrate export restrictions take effect?
The tighter restrictions on raw lithium concentrate exports come into force in December 2026, compelling producers to process the mineral locally.