Indian company targets 40 million tonnes of Zimbabwe lithium in $100 million push beyond China

Lohum has secured rights to 10 lithium-mining blocks in Zimbabwe.

• Indian critical-minerals company Lohum plans to invest $100 million in its Zimbabwe lithium operations.
• The company has secured rights to 10 mining blocks with an estimated 30–40 million tonnes of lithium-bearing ore.
• Lohum plans to process the material into lithium sulphate in Zimbabwe before refining it into lithium carbonate in India.
• The project gives India a foothold in an industry where Chinese companies have invested approximately $2 billion since 2021.

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The project gives India a new foothold in Africa’s largest lithium-producing country, where Chinese companies currently dominate mining and processing.

Lohum intends to process the ore into lithium sulphate in Zimbabwe and send the intermediate product to India, where it will be refined into higher-value lithium carbonate used by battery manufacturers.

The latest investment and resource estimates were disclosed by Lohum founder and chief executive Rajat Verma in an interview with Reuters⁠.

A bigger Indian move into Zimbabwe

Lohum began its Zimbabwe operations earlier in September and shipped its first lithium ore from the country.

The new disclosures provide a clearer picture of the investment’s scale, 10 spodumene-bearing blocks covering approximately 1,100 hectares, a planned $100 million commitment and an estimated resource base of 30-40 million tonnes of ore.

The company has said the assets could eventually support annual production equivalent to approximately 30,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate. That figure is a production target and is different from the 30-40 million tonnes of estimated ore contained in the ground.

Verma previously described the company’s expansion beyond recycling as deliberate.

“We recycle, we refine, and now we own mines,” he told the Financial Express⁠ in June.

Lohum wants to become the first Indian company to produce lithium from an overseas mining asset. It plans to raise about $315 million over the next 12 to 18 months, $105 million in equity and $210 million in debt,to finance its wider expansion.

” alt=”Zimbabwe is Africa’s largest lithium producer, but Chinese companies dominate its major operating mines. [Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg via Getty Images]” width=”790″ height=”445″ data-original=”https://ocdn.eu/pulscms-transforms/1/mKkktkpTURBXy80YjhkNjUxMzZmOTUyZmMyZGQ1YTNjMzQ4MWE3ZmIwMy5qcGeSlQMAAM0EsM0Co5UCzQMWzQG9wsM” /> Zimbabwe is Africa’s largest lithium producer, but Chinese companies dominate its major operating mines. [Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

India enters a Chinese-dominated sector

China’s position in Zimbabwe gives the investment its broader geopolitical significance.

Chinese companies, including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group, Chengxin Lithium and Sichuan Yahua, have invested approximately $2 billion in Zimbabwe’s lithium industry since 2021.

In 2025, Zimbabwe supplied about 15% of China’s lithium-concentrate imports, shipping more than 1.1 million tonnes.

Huayou has already built a $400 million lithium-sulphate plant with an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes. In April, the plant produced Africa’s first export shipment of lithium sulphate.

Lohum’s entry will not immediately displace those established Chinese investors. It nevertheless provides India with a direct source of a mineral required for electric vehicles, energy-storage systems and consumer electronics.

The company has said it intends to build processing capacity in Zimbabwe instead of operating solely as an ore exporter.

“We are approaching Zimbabwe as a long-term partner, building processing capability locally rather than shipping ore out,” Verma said.

Zimbabwe raises pressure for local processing

The project also arrives as Zimbabwe tightens the conditions attached to mineral exports.

The government is pushing mining companies to convert lithium concentrate into sulphate locally as it seeks more jobs and export earnings from its mineral resources. However, the country’s only operational lithium-sulphate plant has said it cannot process material for other miners.

That shortage of available processing capacity presents both an opportunity and an execution risk for Lohum.

The company must develop or secure sufficient local processing capacity for its 10 blocks while navigating Zimbabwe’s changing export rules.

Its $100 million investment therefore represents more than the purchase of mining rights, it is an attempt to construct an India-linked supply chain from African ore to Indian battery materials.

” alt=”Ayodeji Adegboyega” width=”70″ height=”70″ data-original=”https://ocdn.eu/pulscms-transforms/1/gQiktkqTURBXy9jYTc5NGQwNmZkZDZlYWMxZGRmZmExMTBlZGVkNzFkNS5qcGVnkZMFzEbMRg” />Ayodeji AdegboyegaAyodeji Adegboyega is a business and economic journalist with over seven years of reporting experience in Nigeria, dedicated to making complex financial topics accessible and promoting gender inclusion in finance.