Key points:
- Bravura, owned by pan-African billionaire Benedict Peters, plans to start production at a Zimbabwean lithium project early next year.
- Despite weak lithium prices, Bravura remains committed to commissioning the Kamativi lithium tailings project in 2025.
- Bravura’s plant will reprocess waste material from a tin mine that closed down three decades ago.
In a turning point for Zimbabwe’s mining sector, Bravura, owned by pan-African billionaire Benedict Peters, has announced plans to start production at a Zimbabwean lithium project early next year.
This announcement follows the recent unveiling of Zimbabwe’s first world-class lithium upgrade facility by Bravura, aimed at processing over 5 million tonnes of ore annually and creating a high-value lithium oxide product, according to a report by Billionaires.Africa
Despite weak lithium prices, Bravura remains committed to commissioning the Kamativi lithium tailings project in 2025. Bravura’s group general manager, Gbenga Ojo, reveals that the current market conditions would not impact Bravura’s plans.
“Lithium has emerged as a linchpin of the energy transition, but prices have crashed about 80 percent from the peak of a boom in 2022 amid oversupply. The current market will not impact Bravura’s plans, we are so confident about it. Even if it remains like this, we will go ahead with our project.” he said
Ojo explained that the plant Bravura is developing will be able to produce an annual 30,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate, a lithium-bearing mineral by reprocessing waste material left behind by a tin mine which closed down three decades ago. The Zimbabwean government is a minority partner in the project, holding a 40-percent stake.
Benedict Peters, is prominent in the oil and gas sector through his group of companies, Aiteo, which operates a large oil block in his native Nigeria. Expanding beyond his extensive portfolio in the oil sector, Peters is now leading the charge in the African mining industry through Bravura.
The company operates as a vertically integrated entity with active mining projects across Africa, including gold, copper, lithium, and steel assets in Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Nigeria, Namibia, and South Africa.
