HARARE – Zimbabwe’s state-controlled Mutapa Energy Resources (MER) has confirmed a 39.9 million-tonne lithium resource at Sandawana Mine, with the estimate covering only 30 percent of the company’s 3,800-hectare mining claim, positioning the project as one of the country’s most significant undeveloped lithium assets.

Speaking at the announcement of the mine’s Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) compliant results in Harare on Wednesday, MER chief executive Innocent Rukweza said the certified resource was derived exclusively from Block A, while 70 percent of the concession remains unexplored.

“Block A, which has the results we are going to be sharing with you today, constitutes only 30 percent of the entire mining claim,” Rukweza said. “The results which we have relate to Block A, which is 30 percent. The 70 percent constituting the majority of our claims has not yet been explored.”

The JORC certification provides an internationally recognised benchmark for mineral resource reporting and is widely used by global investors, lenders and mining companies to assess project quality and financing potential.

Rukweza said the exploration campaign involved 103,000 metres of drilling, the collection and testing of 33,000 samples, and was completed over an 11-month period at a cost of US$24 million.

“We have a resource that has been confirmed by JORC of 39.9 million tonnes,” he said. “Of that, 28.7 million tonnes are measured resources, which represent 72 percent of the total resource. It is measured, it is certain, and it passes the test because it was measured by a competent person.”

The CEO described the high proportion of measured resources as a key differentiator in Zimbabwe’s mining sector.

“From the best of our knowledge, we are the first Zimbabwean mine with measured resources constituting 72 percent of the total resource,” he said. “Most mines are way below that, but we are above 50 percent, which makes the resource bankable.”

In mining finance, a large measured resource component generally reduces geological risk and enhances a project’s ability to attract debt and equity funding.

Rukweza said the JORC outcome strengthens Sandawana’s investment case at a time when global demand for battery minerals remains robust despite recent lithium price volatility.

“It means investors can now look at the project with a certified, bankable resource,” he said.

Operationally, the company
has already extracted 2 million tonnes of ore from Sandawana and has begun construction of a 3 million-tonne-per-annum concentrator plant, alongside supporting infrastructure including roads, community relocation works, a school and a clinic.

“We are in the process of setting up a 3 million tonnes per annum concentrator plant, and the support infrastructure is already underway,” Rukweza said.

The company is also conducting intensive geochemical and geophysical exploration on Blocks B and C, which together account for the remaining 70 percent of the concession.

Beyond lithium, the deposit contains several associated minerals, including tantalum and nickel, with Rukweza indicating that some of these by-products could be commercially recoverable and potentially improve overall project economics.

Sandawana, historically known for emerald production, is emerging as a strategic lithium project under Zimbabwe’s broader push to move up the battery-minerals value chain and attract long-term capital into downstream processing and beneficiation.