Zimbabwe’s mines minister says China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is planning to build a lithium carbonate plant in the country. The announcement, reported by Bloomberg and New Zimbabwe, attributes the plan to Mines Minister Polite Kambamura. Zimbabwe has positioned itself as a growing supplier of lithium feedstock, with Chinese companies increasing investment in the metal in recent years, according to the reports. Both outlets frame the proposed plant as part of Zimbabwe’s push to move beyond exporting raw or partially processed material and instead develop local capacity to process lithium for battery-grade products. The sources do not provide additional project specifics in the provided text, such as the plant’s location within Zimbabwe, expected output, timetable, or investment amount. Overall, the reports agree that the government is encouraging Chinese investors operating in Zimbabwe’s lithium sector to expand into local processing and that Huayou is one company mentioned in connection with that shift.