Lithium
Lithium ground for sale in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe holds Africa’s largest lithium reserves, and a policy deadline eighteen months away is about to separate the ground that has a route to market from the ground that does not.
- Lithium exports, H1 2026
- US$746m
- Spodumene concentrate
- US$672.8m
- Lithium sulphate
- US$73.2m since April
- Concentrate export ban
- 1 Jan 2027
Lithium earned US$746 million in the first half of 2026 — US$672.8 million in spodumene concentrate and US$73.2 million in lithium sulphate, a product Zimbabwe did not make before April. Spodumene alone is 26.6% of everything the Minerals Marketing Corporation markets.
The 2027 deadline changes what your ground is worth
From 1 January 2027, exporting lithium concentrate is banned. Producers must process to lithium sulphate or higher before shipping. Industry asked for an extension to mid-2027; government refused, with the Mines Minister noting that producers were given eighteen months’ notice in June 2025.
For anyone holding pegmatite ground, that reprices the market along a single axis: do you have a route to a plant? Ground within economic trucking distance of an operating concentrator or sulphate facility — Bikita, the Arcadia corridor in Goromonzi, Kamativi, the Zulu trend around Insiza — has a buyer. An isolated occurrence of the same grade, three hundred kilometres from anything, has a geology report.
Grade is no longer the headline. Before the deadline, a seller could reasonably price on Li₂O percentage alone. After it, the first question any serious buyer asks is who will process the material and how far it has to travel to get there. Sellers who can answer that will hold value through 2027. Sellers who cannot should expect the discount.
What the export figures actually tell you
In 2025 Zimbabwe exported 1.128 million tonnes of concentrate — 11% more than the year before — for roughly US$513.8 million, essentially flat on the previous year because global prices weakened. That flat line is the government’s whole argument for the ban, and it is why waiver requests have gone nowhere.
What to check on lithium ground specifically
- Distance to a processing route, named and costed. This is now the first question, not the last.
- Pegmatite continuity. Pegmatites are notoriously variable. Surface grade at one point says little about tonnage.
- Mineralogy, not just assay. Spodumene, petalite and lepidolite behave differently in processing, and a plant built for one may not take another.
- Haulage. Concentrate economics live or die on road access and truck availability.
- Whether the ground is claims or an EPO. Much lithium ground is offered as joint-venture exploration rather than an outright sale, which is a different transaction with different risks.
The tenure checks are the same as for any claim — see the guide to buying a mining claim.
Ground on offer
Live listingsEvery lot here has had its certificate of registration, inspection standing and map reference checked before listing. That is not a warranty — confirm title with the Provincial Mining Director before any money moves.
No lithium lots published yet
Pegmatite ground is being taken on now, with priority on deposits that have a named processing route. A lot appears here only once its paperwork has been checked.
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