Chinese mining firm Huayou Cobalt has kickstarted trial production at the Arcadia Lithium Mine, located in the Mashonaland province in Zimbabwe.
The mine is expected to produce 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate once fully operational, with the start of trial production commencing after 300 days, using approximately 3,000 workers.
“All production lines of the Huayou Cobalt’s Arcadia lithium mine project have completed equipment installation and commissioning, and trial production has commenced, successfully producing the first batch of products,” stated Huayou Cobalt.
The project is Huayou Cobalt’s largest single investment initiative in Africa and is set to expand Zimbabwe’s lithium production as the country targets to become a $12 billion mining industry by the end of 2023.
The launch of the trial follows Huayou Cobalt acquiring the mine from Australian mining firm Prospect Resources in a $422 million deal in 2022, investing $300 million in equipment installation, infrastructure development and manpower to build a facility with the capacity to process 4.5 million tons of lithium ore at the mine.
