View from the ground: January concentrate export ban deadline looms over Zimbabwe’s 2026 annual mining conference

Tensions between lithium miners in Zimbabwe and the country’s government, which plans to introduce a ban on concentrate exports in January 2027, dominated conversations at the recent Zimbabwe Chamber of Mine’s Annual Mining Conference (17–20 June). The Benchmark Lithium Service was represented on the conference stage by lithium analyst Luc Braun who delivered a presentation on Zimbabwe’s domestic hard-rock conversion and downstreaming ambitions. “At the conference, several miners described complex and sometimes tense working relationships with government over the last year, particularly since Zimbabwe’s March export suspension and subsequent May resumption,” Braun said.