The Democratic Republic of Congo appears determined to leverage its negotiating power with Chinese and other mining companies to secure major concessions on local cobalt processing.
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International media particularly in the Western countries but also in South Africa and India extensively covered the Sino-Metals Leach tailings disaster that happened back in February, amplifying its impact on lives of Zambian communities and the environment. However, Chinese media maintained a conspicuous silence for months.
China’s social media has been buzzing after Zambian farmers filed an $80 billion lawsuit against Sino-Metals, a Chinese-owned copper mining company, accusing it of causing an environmental disaster following the collapse of a mining waste dam earlier this year.
Chinese mining and battery giant Huayou Cobalt is close to completing a $400 million lithium sulphate processing plant in Zimbabwe, the first of its kind on the continent, underscoring its commitment to supporting the country’s efforts to climb the global battery supply chain.
The world’s leading exporter of cobalt, China’s CMOC Group, may turn out to be the biggest loser under the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s new export quota policy, which is set to replace the existing moratorium on cobalt shipments beginning in mid-October.
Lawyers representing communities and civil society groups in Zambia have opened settlement talks with Sino-Metals, a Chinese-owned copper mining and processing company, over one of the country’s worst toxic spills, raising the possibility of an out-of-court resolution in multiple cases that could reshape corporate accountability in Africa.
This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025.
The United States wants to secure its supply of strategic minerals in conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, hoping to challenge China’s near-monopoly on the lucrative sector.
When Chinese battery materials giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt acquired the Arcadia Lithium Mine for $422 million in 2021, Zimbabwe saw an opportunity to claim its share in the global electric vehicle supply chain table. Located 38 kilometers east of Harare, the project was billed as a game-changer for a country eager to monetize its mineral wealth.
There is a puzzling shift unfolding in the global lithium market. Prices have collapsed by over 70% from their 2022 highs to around $12,000 per ton, and yet, against all market logic, some Chinese lithium giants are not retreating.
When residents of Uis in western Namibia started noticing daily convoys of large trucks leaving what they thought was a small-scale artisanal mining site in January 2023, a group of community activists sprang into action.
KITWE, Zambia (AP) — Authorities and environmentalists in Zambia fear the long-term impact of an acid spill at a Chinese-owned mine that contaminated a major river and could potentially affect millions of people after signs of pollution were detected at least 100 kilometers (60 miles) downstream.
In the world of critical minerals, where prices fluctuate wildly and geopolitical tensions loom large, China may be demonstrating a mastery of long-term strategic planning.
Four workers file K2 million lawsuit against Lubambe mine after devastating accident" 22 September 2024 The four men—Tantu Simbaya, Kelvin Kaunda, James Zimba, and Jonas Chibale—were employed by Reliant Mining and Construction, a company contracted by Lubambe Mine, at the time of the accident, which occurred on April 19, 2024. Both Reliant Mining and Lubambe Mine have been named as defendants, accused of gross negligence and breach of statutory duty.
New research traces how 41 families in Buhera were displaced from their homes to make way for Zimbabwe’s third largest lithium mine, owned by China’s Sabi Star mining company.
MASVINGO-Zimbabwe’s largest lithium mine, Bikita Minerals has been slapped with a damning Environment Protection Order (EPO) for flagrantly polluting Matezva Dam and drawing unsustainably large volumes of water from it. This is not the first time the Chinese-owned mine, which generated US$500 million in exports in 2023, has been caught on the wrong side of the law.
Five trade unionists from the Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU) were threatened and chased away at gun point by more than 20 thugs, while they were setting up for the Workers Day celebrations at a stadium at Bikita Minerals on 1 May.
Mining workers and villagers near the Bikita Minerals lithium mine in Zimbabwe accuse the government and Chinese mining company Sinomine Resource Group of sidelining environmental and social standards in the scramble for lithium.
Community leaders from Ward 11 in the Mandihongola area of Gwanda have raised concerns about the operations of the Gwanda Lithium Mine, which they say have contaminated their water sources and contributed to air pollution.
The establishment of Sabi Star Mine in the drought-prone area, located in ecological region 5, has changed the lives of villagers from Mukwasi, Tagarira and Ngwazani, among others, through various developmental initiatives.
Chinese companies have invested billions in Zimbabwe’s lithium. Now Harare wants to ensure some processing happens before export.
Mysterious loss of livestock, joblessness and a daily struggle for livelihood routes due to lost farmland are some of the tribulations that families displaced by a lithium mining company have to contend with on a daily basis. Last July, this publication ran an investigation into the displacement of villagers from the environs of Sabi Star mine that, besides leaving them high and dry, did not follow proper procedure in the relocation of the community members.
Workers at Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ) and others at smaller companies contracted by the mine have moved to join labour unions amid reports of threats against doing so by the employer. More than 100 workers have since joined the Zimbabwe Diamond Allied Mine Workers Union (ZDAMWU) and requested the union to look into their conditions of service following the death of at least two workers earlier this year.
The expansion of industrial-scale cobalt and copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has led to the forced eviction of entire communities and grievous human rights abuses including sexual assault, arson and beatings. In a report, Powering Change or Business as Usual? Amnesty International and the DRC-based organization Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH), detail how the scramble by multinational companies to expand mining operations has resulted in communities being forced from their homes and farmland.
PARCHED rural Buhera in Manicaland province, southeastern Zimbabwe, witnessed rare pomp and glitz in December 2022 when President Emmerson Mnangagwa came down with a high-powered delegation. The entourage included the Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and the third most powerful figure in government, Oppah Muchinguri, who is Defence minister and the ruling Zanu PF national chairperson.
The Arcadia lithium mine, located in Goromonzi, just outside of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, is owned by Prospect Resources through its subsidiary Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ). The open-pit mine is considered to be one of the world’s largest hard rock lithium resources, holding estimated reserves of 42.3 million tonnes.
TWO employees have died in a short space of time due to unsafe working conditions at Arcadia Mine, a Chinese-run multi-million open-pit lithium mining company based in Goromonzi, 38km east of Harare, the capital, NewZimbabwe.com has established.
Lufwanyama’s Chibuluma copper mine company in Copperbelt Province has compensated 42 families affected by pollution from its tailing dams. Benedict Mulenga, the Manager in charge of social services at Chibuluma mine, confirmed this during a joint inspection of the company’s infrastructure provided for the affected households.
Masvingo province-based lithium mining company Bikita Minerals, which has been taken over by the Chinese, is registering steep surges in production of late, but its employees see no reason to celebrate this as working conditions deteriorate. Records show that Shenzhen-listed Sinomine acquired Bikita Minerals for US$180 million in January 2022 and announced a US$300 million investment to increase production and extend the life of the mine. Bikita Minerals was previously controlled by German investors through African Minerals Ltd which held a 55.4 percent stake in the mine.
At least 46 people have been killed in an explosion at a copper mine in Zambia. The explosion happened in a factory at the Chambishi copper mine three hundred kilometres north of Zambia's capital Lusaka in the heart of the country's copper belt.
Masvingo—Residents of Murape village are facing a severe crisis due to the construction of a slime dam by the nearby Bikita Minerals, which has not only cut off their access to clean water but also poses a threat to their livelihoods, an investigation has established.
The details of China’s new 5-year plan, released earlier this month, suggest China has put off the difficult steps necessary to become carbon neutral by 2060. President Xi Jinping had announced that goal last fall, reflecting the Chinese Communist Party’s pursuit of “Ecological Civilization,” a vision of environmental sustainability both within and beyond China’s borders.
Zimbabwean communities living around lithium mines have to put up with noise pollution, gas emissions, dust, flying-rock hazards and ground vibrations.
Once a tranquil and serene community nestled in the heart of Zimbabwe, Bikita now finds itself caught in the relentless grip of an insidious force that threatens its very existence. The bludgeoning rise of lithium mining, driven by a surging global demand for this strategic mineral, has brought forth a blight.
On June 18, 2022, Mines and Minerals Development Minister Paul Kabuswe advised Lubambe Copper Mine to reconsider its decision to make 178 workers redundant. Mr. Kabuswe stressed that the mine should retract the letters sent to the affected employees since the government was not consulted beforehand. He urged the Chililabombwe-based mine to enter into discussions with the government and provide an explanation for its intention to dismiss the workers.
