New Delhi: LOHUM has dispatched the first tranche of lithium ore from its mining assets in Zimbabwe's Matabeleland South Province, the company said on Wednesday. It described the shipment as the first output from its Zimbabwe operations, and said the dispatch makes it the first Indian company to begin lithium operations globally.
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LOHUM has secured rights to 10 spodumene-bearing lithium mining blocks in Matabeleland South, covering approximately 1,100 hectares, it said. The company put the estimated deposits at 30-40 million tonnes of spodumene ore. Beyond that initial set, it holds an option to acquire up to 90 adjacent blocks, which it said would give it tenfold expansion potential in its primary spodumene resource base in the region.
At prevailing lithium carbonate prices, LOHUM said, those deposits carry an estimated in-situ value of approximately USD 7 billion.
Spodumene concentration facilities already operating in the vicinity give the company immediate processing options, it said, while it develops its own concentration capacity in Zimbabwe.
The mining assets take LOHUM's critical materials platform upstream into primary lithium supply. That sits alongside the refining, advanced manufacturing and recycling operations the company already runs.
"The dispatch of this first tranche marks the beginning of our lithium operations in Zimbabwe. These assets allow us to take lithium from the ground through refining to the cathode and recover it again at end-of-life, within a chain India now has a stake in," said Rajat Verma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), LOHUM.
"We are approaching Zimbabwe as a long-term partner, building processing capability locally rather than shipping ore out, so that value creation, and the cost benefit that follows, is shared rather than exported," Verma added.
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Battery cost is the single largest lever on the price of an electric vehicle (EV), according to LOHUM, and lithium is in turn the single largest lever on battery cost. Every rupee taken out of the lithium supply chain moves closer to what the company called the pump-parity moment. Shorter shipping distances, integrated refining and reduced dependence on volatile international pricing are the routes it named.