Namibia orders police to stop Chinese firm’s lithium exports

Reuters | October 24, 2023 | 8:22 am Battery Metals Intelligence Africa China Lithium

Namibia’s government has ordered police to stop Xinfeng Investments from transporting lithium ore inside the country and from exporting it, accusing the Chinese miner of violating the country’s ban on critical raw mineral exports.

In a letter dated Oct. 19 and seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Namibia’s Mining Commissioner Isabella Chirchir 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.

“They are not allowed to remove any material from their mine to anywhere within Namibia or outside,” Chirchir wrote. She directed that all trucks bringing lithium ore to Walvis Bay, Namibia’s main port, should be stopped and returned to the mine.

Xinfeng officials were not immediately available to comment.

In June, Namibia banned the export of unprocessed lithium and other critical minerals as it seeks to encourage local processing and profit from growing global demand for metals used in clean energy technologies.

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