(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s Moti Group said a Chinese company with which it planned to develop a $1 billion lithium processing plant in Zimbabwe was halving its stake in the venture, dealing the project a potential blow.
Moti Group’s Pulserate Investments holds a 10,000 hectare (24,710-acre) lithium exploration concession in the northeast of the country, Africa’s biggest producer of the metal according to the US Geological Survey.
Earlier this year Moti said it planned to have the Chinese company, which it didn’t identify, increase its stake in Pulserate to 70% and apply for an exemption to Zimbabwe’s ban on lithium ore exports while establishing a battery factory.
The company, “one of the largest Chinese battery manufacturers,” has instead exercised an option to cut its stake to 10% from 20%, Dondo Mogajane, Moti’s chief executive officer, said in a response to queries. Pulserate “is adjusting its plans in line with the changes introduced by the Zimbabwean government regarding lithium mining and processing conditionalities,” he said.
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