Zimbabwe lithium miners want royalties to be linked to prices
The battery metal has slumped from a peak in late 2022 amid oversupply and weak demand from the electric vehicle sector.
Rio Tinto said on Friday it had lifted “force majeure” declared on customer contracts at its Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) project in South Africa that had been hit by violent community unrest last year.
The company had declared a force majeure on customer contracts at the project in June 2021, due to what it says was an “escalation in the security situation”, a month after the project’s general manager was killed on his way to work.
Rio Tinto had also halted mining and smelting operations at the mineral sands project, before restarting them a couple of months later.
“This marks an important moment in RBM’s recovery since the halt in operations last year,” said Sinead Kaufman, Rio’s chief executive of minerals.
A force majeure is triggered when a company cannot meet its contract obligations due to unforeseen circumstances.
The Richards Bay mineral sands project comprises mining, refining and smelting of heavy minerals or ore deposits which are primarily used in industrial applications.
(By Harish Sridharan; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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