VICE President Constantino Chiwenga says future generations will curse the current crop of leaders if they allow precious raw minerals to be exported without beneficiation.
This follows the government's immediate ban on the export of all raw minerals and lithium concentrates, citing underdeclaration by some miners.
While the ban had been previously set for 2027, the government pointed out that mining companies were now scrambling to get as much of the raw minerals as possible before the ban took effect.
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Addressing traditional chiefs in Mberengwa, Wednesday, where he was touring the state-owned Sandawana Mines, Chiwenga said Zimbabwe would be making a grave mistake if lithium mining leaves future generations with nothing but abandoned excavation pits instead of lasting wealth and development.
"As we mine, we are leaving these pits open and next generations will ask what used to happen here and we will tell them, we used to mine lithium here and have nothing to show for it.
"We will be foolish to leave nothing except pits for the generations to come.
"We are not the first nor the last. There were generations who came before us and left these natural resources and we should do the same to leave wealth for the futute generations.
"If we do not leave anything for the future generations, they will spit on our graves, let us leave a legacy which will be respected," Chiwenga said.
Chiwenga bemoaned the harm which came with the export of raw lithium ore, which included damaging roads and pollution without meaningful economic returns.
"We were exporting lithium ore, our roads were getting destroyed by trucks, pollution and everything but we were getting nothing.
"When we do mining, we should do value addition for economic growth," he added.
The Vice President added that mining investments must transform rural communities into industrial hubs.
"We want rural industrialisation for development. We must build cities here in the rural.
Sandawana Mines, which falls under the Mutapa Investment Fund's Energy Minerals portfolio, says it is advancing plans to construct a lithium concentrator plant at an estimated cost of between US$275 million.
The proposed facility is expected to process up to three million tonnes of ore per annum, with commissioning targeted for December 2027.
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