Zimbabwean miners are calling for the postponement of the newly imposed export tax on lithium concentrate until local refining plants are operational, reported Bloomberg.

Zimbabwe Lithium Exporters (ZLE), which includes members such as Chengxin Lithium Group, has formally requested a two-and-a-half-year delay in the 5% levy, which is intended to encourage the development of the domestic refining industry.

The appeal was made in a document submitted to the country's mines and finance ministries.

ZLE stated in a document seen by Bloomberg that the tax on unprocessed lithium concentrate should be deferred until 2027, when facilities for producing lithium sulphate, a higher-value product, are expected to be operational.

This product would then be exported to China for further refinement into battery-grade material.

Zimbabwe has rapidly become a key supplier of lithium concentrate to Chinese refineries, with companies such as Chengxin, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Sinomine Resource Group investing heavily in local mining projects.

Additionally, ZLE expressed concerns over the method used to calculate royalty payments.

The association claims that the government is basing these payments on the price of lithium carbonate, a more valuable variant, rather than the lithium concentrate that is produced in Zimbabwe.

The broader mining community, represented by the Chamber of Mines, engaged in discussions with the Finance Ministry on 19 May to deliberate on these proposals.

A spokesperson for the Chamber confirmed the ongoing consultations but declined to comment on the discussions.

Last month, Zimbabwe’s state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development declared its intention to find a solution to safeguard its assets, which are under threat of confiscation due to debt stemming from an international arbitration dispute with Amaplat Mauritius.