By Staff Reporter
The glow of Zimbabwe’s lithium boom has been dimmed by a rising human toll at the country’s largest lithium mine, Bikita Minerals, owned by Chinese firm Sinomine Resource Group. For communities living in the shadow of the mine, the promise of prosperity is being overshadowed by death, injury, and deepening inequality.
Sinomine acquired Bikita Minerals, which was previously controlled by African Minerals Ltd, for US$180 million in January 2022.
On the morning of 22 August, tragedy struck again when Farai Murimoga Mutsvange, a dump truck driver, was killed while preparing to load his vehicle. Dust clouds from constant traffic made it impossible for him to see an oncoming truck that ploughed into him. He died instantly, leaving yet another family shattered.
The incident comes barely a week after three schoolchildren were injured in a blasting operation at Ledingham Hill, where spodumene, a lithium-bearing mineral, is being extracted. The children, all from mineworker families, were struck by flying debris while playing outside.
For the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG), the deaths and injuries are not isolated misfortunes but part of a disturbing pattern.
“These stories reflect systemic neglect, corporate impunity, and the prioritisation of profit over people’s lives,” the organisation said in a strongly worded statement.
The latest fatalities and injuries add to a growing list of painful episodes tied to Bikita Minerals.
In October 2023, worker Nelson Musendekwa was killed by a machine he was operating. In 2024, Ensolomn Chambara lost his leg in a workplace accident. The same year, Alliston Chivasa lost his wife after the mine allegedly refused to release an ambulance to take her to Harare for urgent treatment.
Now, Chivasa’s children are among those injured in the August blast, a cruel reminder of how the mine’s operations extend harm far beyond the workplace and into family life.
Statistics reinforce the scale of the crisis. Between January and May this year, 59 fatal mining accidents claimed 70 lives, slightly higher than the same period in 2024. Behind each statistic is a story of families left without breadwinners and communities scarred by preventable tragedies.
Globally, Zimbabwe’s lithium boom has been cast as a turning point, a resource that could place the country at the heart of the renewable energy revolution. Lithium from Bikita is destined for electric vehicle batteries and solar storage systems that power greener futures abroad.
But for the workers at Bikita, the story is starkly different. Pay is meagre, safety is an afterthought, and families live in precarious conditions. “While lithium extracted from Bikita powers electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies abroad, workers in the sector earn slave wages whilst working under dangerous conditions,” CNRG noted.
In the nearby villages, families describe the mine as both a lifeline and a curse, a place that offers scarce jobs, yet takes lives and erodes dignity. The blast that injured children last week has fuelled growing resentment, with parents now openly questioning whether the mine values human life at all.
Calls for Change
CNRG has demanded urgent reforms, including:
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- Suspension of unsafe blasting until safety guarantees are in place.
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- An independent investigation into safety practices and medical response failures.
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- Tighter enforcement of Zimbabwe’s labour and mining regulations.
Yet communities remain sceptical. For years, promises of reform have been made, but accidents have continued with alarming frequency. What many fear is that Bikita’s lithium wealth is being extracted at the cost of local lives, with little accountability.
As Zimbabwe positions itself as a key player in the global energy transition, the paradox deepens: lithium may be powering cleaner futures elsewhere, but in Bikita, it is leaving a legacy of loss.