Page 15 - AsiaElec Week 26 2022

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Zimbabwe power shortage

scuppers Chinese lithium plans

CHINA A Chinese company developing a lithium mine ore, not a converter for further processing to pro-
and processing facility in Zimbabwe has said duce battery-grade lithium carbonate, Reuters
local conditions do not allow it to produce bat- noted.
tery-grade lithium within the five years that a “For each tonne of battery-grade lithium
local competition regulator is pushing for. carbonate production, it needs 2,800 kWh of
Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt said the timeline green renewable power, 500-600 cubic metres of
advanced by the Competition and Tariff Com- natural gas, 2.2 tonnes of concentrated sulfuric
mission (CTC) to advance its investment up acid (98.5%), 2 tonnes of first-class sodium car-
the value chain is not feasible because Zimba- bonate, 20 kg of first-class sodium hydroxide, 4
bwe does not have enough electricity and other tonnes of heavy calcium powder, and 1.6 tonnes
inputs, Reuters reported on June 28, citing offi- of food-grade carbon dioxide,” Huayou said in
cial documents. May when it announced its investment plans for
“The transaction was approved subject to the Arcadia.
condition that the merged entity, its subsidiaries, “There is a chronic shortage of these support-
affiliates and successors in title should undertake ing and auxiliary materials in Africa, and the
to produce battery-grade lithium in Zimbabwe costs incurred by importation would be huge
within five years of receiving this determination,” and unaffordable.”
the CTC is quoted as saying in a June 22 notice. Paul Chimbodza, who held 7% of Arcadia
Huayou acquired the Arcadia lithium pro- lithium before Huayou acquired it, told Reuters
ject for $422mn from Australia-listed Prospect that Zimbabwe, which has a 5% tax on raw lith-
Resources and two minority shareholders in ium exports to promote local processing, needs
December 2021. The Chinese company recently to temper its “noble” battery aspirations, saying
disclosed its plans to invest $300mn into devel- “This young industry needs to walk before it can
oping the mine, some 60km east of Harare. run.”™
It also plans to build a concentrator to process

Week 26 29•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P15