China’s Zijin Plans Lithium Production in Congo From Early 2026
By William Clowes
January 07, 2025 at 12:00AM EST
Lithium Photographer: Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg (Cynthia R Matonhodze/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) -- China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. aims to start producing lithium in the Democratic Republic of Congo early next year from one of the world’s largest deposits of the battery metal.
Zijin is accelerating activity at a site in southeast Congo that’s still claimed by AVZ Minerals Ltd. The Australian firm has initiated arbitration proceedings against both the government and Zijin as part of its efforts to recover an exploration license.
The Manono project is expected to start production during the first quarter of 2026, a Zijin spokesperson said by email. That would make it the first operating lithium mine in Congo, the world’s second-largest copper producer and biggest source of cobalt.
Chinese companies including Zijin are investing heavily in Africa’s lithium resources from Mali to Zimbabwe, even after prices slumped almost 90% from a peak in 2022. They are seeking to lock down feedstock for refineries at home in anticipation of soaring future consumption of the metal.
While the current supply glut will likely continue in the short term, there is still “room for demand from the global new energy vehicle and energy storage industries” over a longer horizon, Zijin said in September. The company’s other lithium projects are in China and Argentina.
Zijin – which has copper, gold, lithium and zinc mines across five continents – is developing Manono in a joint venture with the Congolese state and was granted a full mining license four months ago. The asset is “sizable,” with an average grade of 1.51% lithium oxide, the spokesperson said.
Legal Dispute
Explorer AVZ has said the wider area is “the world’s largest hard rock lithium deposit.”
Perth-based AVZ has accused Congo of acting illegally by taking over its whole permit and then awarding the northern portion to a unit of Zijin in September 2023. AVZ said arbitration tribunals have ordered Zijin’s state-owned partner to halt any move to develop the contested permit area until they hear the cases. The government is “in blatant violation of several injunctions,” an AVZ spokesperson said by email.
AVZ said last month that the Australian Federal Police searched its premises concerning allegations of bribery related to the Manono lithium project. The company has denied any wrongdoing.
If Zijin builds a mine on a scale envisaged by AVZ in a 2020 study, only a few giant projects in No. 1 producer Australia, such as Albemarle Corp.’s Greenbushes, and the recently opened Goulamina in Mali, would be bigger, said Thomas Matthews, battery materials analyst at CRU Group.
Previous studies indicate Manono should be profitable even at current weak prices, he said.
Zijin is “in full compliance” with all legal and regulatory requirements in Congo, the spokesperson said. “We are very pleased to have received the Manono exploitation permit and our priority now is to proceed with developing it,” the spokesperson said.
The Chinese company declined to say what output level it’s targeting, but intends to commission the processing plant in phases. While the joint venture will begin by manufacturing and exporting lithium concentrate and sulfate, Zijin will consider doing additional refining in Manono when there’s a reliable power supply, the spokesperson said. A subsidiary has already rehabilitated a nearby hydroelectric facility.
Zijin also has interests in two copper mines in Congo, including a 39.6% stake in the giant Kamoa-Kakula complex, which is a partnership with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.
Congo’s mines ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
--With assistance from Annie Lee and Michael J. Kavanagh.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Top Stories
AVZ Discussion 2022
- Thread starter GazDix
- Start date
Maybe management, need to read this article to keep updated with the newsand whats happening in the DRC...imo....LMAO
https://www.scmp.com/business/commo...ijin-start-producing-lithium-congo-early-2026
Just a few major developments by ZINJIN progress with the MANONO project..!!
Zijin is “in full compliance” with all legal and regulatory requirements in Congo, the spokesperson said. “We are very pleased to have received the Manono exploitation permit and our priority now is to proceed with developing it,” the spokesperson said.
While the joint venture will begin by manufacturing and exporting lithium concentrate and sulphate, Zijin will consider doing additional refining in Manono when there is a reliable power supply, the spokesperson said. A subsidiary has already rehabilitated a nearby hydroelectric facility
Remark
Top 20
@Zeebot bringing his A game now!
Xerof
High Hopes 1994
It's still only tribal reporting. The shit stain lurks, posts, we report in sufficient numbers,
posts go:
but the shit stain remains
"The future of the Manono project will largely depend on the outcome of the arbitration."
"If Zijin win........"
Skar
Regular
Didn't AVZ have a summary ruling from ICC to halt any development or reallocation or the mining rights until the disputes are settled or did that exclude the carved out portion zijin plan to exploit?
You gotta think if court decisions go our way, a settlement offer will be fourth coming. Question is then, how much does DRC tax, creditors get paid and finally investors get back.... if we lose or dissolve before a final judgement, we get nothing.
Or do people see it different?
I can't see any further steps being undertaken in the ICSID process until the payments are made. I thought they were meant to have been done by now, but the ICSID site still suggests otherwise. Pile the pressure on and pay it Nigel! As long as we have access to the required funds it should've been paid, according to his statements made at the AGM. Perhaps it's already happened and the site just hasn't been updated, however it's previously seemed to be updated basically immediately upon developments.
Mute22
Regular
I am sure they are still pretending they will 'come to the table' to string this along as long as possible, 'Just another month Nigel, no need to get the ICSID involved!, why pay the fees, we can work this out'
I don't envy Nigel having to see through the BS.
Zijin announces to Bloomberg ?"The future of the Manono project will largely depend on the outcome of the arbitration."
"If Zijin win........"
Commencement of mining.
Does not make any sense to announce this to Bloomberg knowing they have to go to court and are totally in the wrong.?
Unless a deal has been agreed between AVZ and DRC.
Otherwise this is fuel for the lawyers .
I don't know how up to date Google maps are but at the bottom of the Manono satellite map it states 2025.
According to the maps Zijin will have to pump a bit of water before they can start building their mine, or they need digging machines on floaties.
1st quarter 2026 is only 12 months away.
Maybe the statement was made as part of pressuring certain parties, or legal proceedings.
"the success of this project could serve as a model for other similar initiatives in Africa."
The model being to:
let western companies do all the work and then sell the project out from under them to the Chinese?
Or
Let the western companies do all the work and then force them to go through years of international arbitration to justify getting to retain their rights?
Neither of these seem like particularly good models for developing Africa.....
Another thought -
Many here have speculated that if Zijin wants the rescouce so bad they should just make an offer and buy it out from AVZ.
Is there anything that would stop them from doing that AFTER the award of damages? What i wonder is, are they happily going through the process with the intent of either 1. AVZ folds, or 2. The total damages award is used to put a ceiling price in what they would pay for AVZ.
Ie:
all cases go in our favour, we get awarded $X billion in damages, and THEN zijin comes along and says "ok you can continue fighting to get at MOST this $XB and it will take you years of more drama to get it all, - OR - we will buy your whole company now for 50% of $XB?
Retrobyte
Hates a beer
Is this the same chinese CATL that NIGEL brought into AVZ as investors..??
The United States Department of Defence has added Chinese battery manufacturing giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to its list of companies linked to China’s military.
Similar threads
