The above comment from @jelly78 shouldn't be overlooked. A...

The above comment from @jelly78 shouldn't be overlooked.

A Chinese group purchased 49% of the Kamativi mine back in 2015 after stumping up a $100M investment. http://www.southerneye.co.zw/2015/09/01/chinese-firm-takes-over-kamativi-mine/

According to this article, the Chinese were actually after the lithium ore (incl spodumene). Excerpt below

"...mining experts have called on ZMDC to exercise extreme caution when approving the transaction as the real deal is not about tin, which is all but exhausted but the rich lithium resource. Experts who spoke to FinX on condition of anonymity said the country needs to guard its lithium resources very jealously. “There are many investors who would strip out our resource in no time! Be wary of the story that investors are after a ‘tin mine’. This is a smoke screen to stop the public from seeing that a priceless treasure is about to be grabbed.”

Zimbabwe is known to have two significant lithium deposits; at Bikita and at Kamativi. Bikita is currently mining although the life of mine is short while at Kamativi the lithium occurs in a massive outcrop, estimated at 3,5 million tonnes behind the area previously mined for tin. The tin is now exhausted and even the small-workers have drifted away.

The lithium ores include
-Spodumene
-Lepidolite"