Lithium injects new life into once-sleepy Kamativi mine
BRAVURA, a Pan-African company that partnered the Government, has started civil works ahead of the construction of a two-stage dense media separation plant to extract spodumene concentrate, a lithium source, from the old tailings dumps at Kamativi Tin Mine.
Kamativi Tin Mine closed in 1994 leaving huge dumps but while the tin has been mined out, the dumps contain previously ignored lithium ores, and now Bravura intends to extract 30 000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate each year.
When Kamativi was operational, lithium was a low value mineral with very modest demand. The rise of the huge lithium battery industry has now made those old dumps of then waste valuable.
The company’s separation plant has two units and can produce 300 tonnes an hour. It is being manufactured in South Africa where it is 95 percent complete and ready to be transported to Kamativi.
Mines and Mining Development Minister Zhemu Soda took time off from the 9th Ordinary Meeting of the African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA) in Victoria Falls and visited the mine last week where he was told that processes are at the final stages before work begins.
Spodumene was one of the waste products of Kamativi Tin Mine since the 1930s and is Bravura’s mineral of interest. The old dump holds 25 million tonnes of what was dumped as waste and there are three lithium minerals: podumene, petalite and amblygonite.
Bravura has a 60:40 percent joint venture with Government, which appointed a special vehicle for the project.
Bravura head of Kamativi project Dr Tafadzva Murinzi said after signing an agreement, the company started several processes that included exploration, surveys and sampling to understand the lie of the land and appointed a consultant to do mineralogical and metallurgical testing, which then led to selection of mining technique to extract spodumene, its mineral of economic interest.
The plant is expected to sit on 4,4ha while the concession stretches for 4km and a relocation plan is being worked on for the relocation of a few houses that will be affected near the dump site.
“The second consultant recommended the use of a dense-media separation plant, which will consist of two units and we then appointed another consultant for fabrication of the plant, which is being manufactured in South Africa and is now roughly 95 percent complete, and is ready for translocation to our site as we are working on few issues to do with bringing it in,” he said.
“In the meantime as Bravura, we then got our civil guys to be on the ground to start working on the plant foundation, that is the work that is going on the ground. We intend to build our plant and we have cleared the area as we expect that our plant will sit on 4,4ha,” said Dr Murinzi.
The official said they expect that once the necessary permits are completed, the plant should be in Zimbabwe in the next two to three months.
It’s a modular plant and once the components are on site, it will take four months from the installation to commissioning.
“So, we are looking at roughly seven to eight months. The material is a tailings dump, which was created by Kamativi Tin Mine and what we are doing is re-mining this dump.
“Our plant is a 300 tonne per hour plant, which translates to about 1.1 million tonnes being processed and this translates to about 30 000 tonnes of the spodumene concentrate each year.
“The end product is spodumene concentrate and we are hoping to produce a saleable grade, which is between five to six percent,” said Dr Murinzi.
She said Bravura expects to mine for over eight to 10 years. Between 400 and 500 people will be employed and 25 percent of them during the construction of the plant while the rest will be employed progressively.
The company has engaged community leaders and anticipates meeting communities soon.
Dr Murinzi said plans are underway to set up a waterworks for a closed water system since Kamativi is a dry area and will draw water from Gwayi River while discussions with Hwange Rural District Council are ongoing.
Chief Dingani-Nelukoba from Mabale, who was part of the tour, commended the Government for creating a conducive environment for investors saying the coming in of the mine will create jobs for the community and help address drug abuse and criminal activities caused by redundancy.
Minister Soda said the coming in of Bravura is a major development given that the mining industry is expected to be a significant contributor to the realisation of Vision 2030.
“We are touring Bravura Mine, which is a mine constituted of the private sector and Government and they have indicated that anytime the plant will be coming from South Africa as they have been working with Government on the permits that they require,” he said.