The Government of Namibia has ordered a Chinese firm from transporting lithium ore inside the country and exporting it.
The government accused Chinese firm ‘Xinfeng Investments’ of violating the country’s ban on critical raw mineral exports.
Namibia’s Mining Commissioner Isabella Chirchir in a letter instructed the country’s police chief Joseph Shikongo to stop any trucks carrying raw lithium ore from Xinfeng’s Kohero mine, about 250 km north west of Windhoek.
Namibia banned the export of raw lithium and other vital minerals in June in an effort to boost domestic processing and capitalize on the rising demand for metals used in clean energy technologies worldwide.
The nation in Southern Africa has large reserves of rare earth minerals like terbium and dysprosium, which are necessary for permanent magnets in electric vehicle and wind turbine batteries, as well as lithium, which is essential for the storage of renewable energy.
Xinfeng has had a number of run-ins with Namibian authorities. The lithium miner denied the allegations, claiming that it had shipped 75,000 metric tons of lithium ore to its Chinese headquarters for testing in order to determine the design of a lithium processing plant in Namibia.
Namibia’s mines minister, Tom Alweendo, revoked Xinfeng’s mining license in April and ordered the company to cease operations by May 31, accusing it of being improperly licensed.
Xinfeng successfully challenged the minister’s decision in Namibia’s High Court, where a judge ruled that the mines minister lacked the authority to cancel the license and should have sought revocation through the courts.
