September 9, 2026, Harare — The Zimbabwean government announced yesterday (September 8) that it is immediately banning all forms of antimony and tungsten exports, and suspending the transportation of ores and concentrates with immediate effect, with no transition period.
Core Event: Ban Takes Effect Immediately
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| Key Details | Specific Information |
|---|---|
| Effective Date | September 8, 2026(Immediate Enforcement) |
| Restricted Minerals | Antimony and tungsten(covering all crude ores and concentrates) |
| Legal Basis | An instruction letter signed by Secretary for the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development of Zimbabwe, Thomas Use, onJuly 21, 2026 |
| Enforcing Agency | State-owned Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) |
| Transition Arrangement | None, existing contracts and inventory will be directly affected |
| Lifting Date of Ban | Not yet announced |
Policy Timeline: Two-Year Layout from Lithium to Antimony and Tungsten
Zimbabwe's "critical minerals" local value-added strategy has been in place for nearly two years, with restrictions gradually tightening:
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February 26, 2024: First ban onlithium concentrate exports.
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April 2024: Partial relaxation of the lithium export ban, but a full ban on crude ore and concentrate exports will be officially implemented inearly 2027.
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May 2026:Designated 14 "critical minerals", laying a legal foundation for export control.
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September 8, 2026:Antimony and tungsten export bantakes immediate effect, expanding the scope of the policy.
List of Critical Minerals: Full Overview of 14 Regulated Minerals
According to the notice released in May 2026, the following minerals have been listed as national strategic resources, and may face mandatory equity stakes and export control in the future:
Lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, rare earth elements, chromium, platinum group metals (PGMs), manganese,antimony, uranium, ruthenium,tungsten, niobium.
Core Policy Intent: Mandatory Local Refining
The Zimbabwean government has clearly required mining enterprises tocarry out more refining and processing locally, rather than only exporting crude ores or roughly processed products. To this end, the country will exercisemandatory minimum shareholding ratios over critical minerals throughSpecial Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to control the flow of resources.
Impacts and Background
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Direct Impact: The antimony and tungsten ban has no transition period, posing animmediate disruption risk to the performance of existing producers, traders and signed long-term contracts.
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Regional Trend: Zimbabwe's move is highly consistent with the policy orientations of other African resource countries such asGuinea (bauxite), Ghana (lithium), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (cobalt), that is, restricting crude ore exports to force local industrial chain upgrading and increase resource added value.
