Lithium Mining

MINERALS worth US$1,5 billion were sold in the first half of 2024, the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) reported Wednesday.

MMCZ’s Acting General Manager Dr Nomsa Moyo said the top three contributors for the first half of 2024 were Platinum Groups Metals (PGMs) matte, PGMs concentrate and Zimbabwe’s primary lithium export, spodumene.

“PGMs matte accounted for 31.8% of the Corporation’s mineral revenue in the first half with 18 844mt of matte valued at US$479 million being sold. A total of 85 407mt of concentrates valued at US$294 million were exported in the period under review,” she said.

While the Corporation had aimed to sell 2 million mt valued at US$2.030 billion, declines in global mineral production led to a 6% volume miss and a 26% revenue shortfall.

However, during the same period last year, the Corporation sold 1,531,149 Mt valued at US$1,689 billion pointing to a 25% year-on-year increase in sales volumes and an 11 percent slump in value terms.

She highlighted that depressed mineral commodity prices for some of Zimbabwe’s top revenue contributors significantly impacted performance in the first half of 2024.

“Lithium was down 72%, nickel 20%, coal 13%, and coke 39%, translating to significant price declines compared to budget forecasts. However, year-over-year price increases were observed for platinum as it firmed 6%, rhodium 6%, copper 16%, fluorite 2% and chrome concentrates 4%, these were not enough to offset the negative impact on overall revenue,” she said.

Noting that ongoing weakness in PGM prices impacted overall sales value, Dr. Moyo expressed optimism over firming gold prices which have been offsetting depressed trends in the PGMs group.

Spodumene sales significantly outperformed expectations in the first half of 2024.

During the period, the Corporation achieved a total value of US$233,017 from 331,826Mt sold.

This surpassed the budgeted target of US$105,000 from 275,000Mt, reflecting a substantial increase in both volume 21% and value 122% — NewZimbabwe

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