HARARE – Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube says the Government will maintain its January 2027 deadline requiring lithium producers to beneficiate their minerals locally, despite calls from mining companies for more time to complete processing plants.

MASVINGO – The Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) has called for an immediate suspension of operations at Bikita Minerals and an independent investigation into two worker deaths reported at the lithium mining company during the weekend of 6 to 7 June 2026.

Bikita Minerals has confirmed the deaths of two contractor employees in separate incidents at its operations, including a fatal waste dump accident involving a dump truck operator and the death of a security guard found unresponsive while on duty.