LITHIUM
Cash flow from the processing of existing stockpiles from historic operations at Springbok is set to offer a non-dilutive path to funding.
Africa: A New Lithium Frontier?
As demand for lithium soars, Oceania, Asia and South America have led the charge to mine the valuable critical mineral, but might Africa soon join the party? Lithium Africa is looking to define a new African lithium frontier with two anchor projects now drilling within highly prospective licences across the continent.
Demand set to skyrocket Lithium has shot to prominence in recent years as perhaps the most strategically important mineral of the green energy transition, underpinning technologies that are central to global decarbonisation efforts. Its role in rechargeable battery technologies, particularly for electric vehicles (EVs), is well documented, but it is also key to grid-scale energy storage systems, consumer electronics and a growing range of renewable energy applications. This has led the International Energy Agency to forecast annual lithium demand to rise from around 165,000 tonnes in 2023 to more than 530,000 tonnes by 2030, before exceeding 1.3 million tonnes by 2040. Structural supply shortfalls are expected to emerge unless significant new mining capacity is developed, reversing a trend of oversupply that has suppressed prices since 2023, and representing both a commercial challenge and an opportunity. Australia leads the way Australia, Chile and China accounted for around three quarters of global lithium production between them in 2024, according to Investing News Network. Australia alone accounted for over
a third, having established itself as the world’s leading producer through large-scale hard-rock spodumene operations. Its position is supported by a mature mining sector, strong infrastructure and significant investment in downstream processing, whilst Chile’s prominence is built on the exceptional lithium-rich brines of the Salar de Atacama salt flats. Zimbabwe has rapidly emerged as Africa’s leading lithium producer, increasing its output sixfold between 2023 and 2024 whilst benefitting from significant investment from Chinese mining groups. Outside of Zimbabwe, however, Africa lags well behind Oceanian, Asian and South American big hitters. Africa: world-class geology, but minimal exploration so far Despite possessing the same LCT pegmatite geology as Western Australia, Quebec and Brazil, Africa has been explored at a fraction of the intensity. Its share of global exploration investment sat at just 10% between 2021 and 2024, following a steady decline from its latest high of 17% in 2012. That is despite greenstone belts across Africa containing some of the world’s largest, and lowest cost, spodumene resources. In fact, nine of the 10 lowest-cost spodumene assets across the globe
CEO Dr Tom Benson was one of the key figures behind the development of the vast Thacker Pass Project in Nevada.
12 MODERN MINING www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | November 2026
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