In the remote south east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo there is a huge lithium bearing spodumene deposit twice as large as Greenbushes. 60% of the project was acquired in 2016 by mining junior AVZ Minerals of Australia for AU$6 M.

Manono consists of two main pegmatite sectors: the Manono Sector to the north east and the Kitotolo Sector to the south west.

AVZ were primarily working on a pegmatite called “Roche Dure” in the south west sector. The main pegmatite in the north east sector called “Carriere de l’Este” is probably 50% larger than Roche Dure.

When AVZ announced an initial mineral resource estimate for Roche Dure in 2018 of 400 million tonnes of ore at 1.65% Li2O, in their own words “all hell broke loose” and “every single Chinese company in the lithium market called” AVZ.

A battle for control has been in progress ever since. In 2023, Chinese mining company Zijin Mining effectively gained control of the north east Manono Sector, comprising the larger Carriere de l’Este pegmatite. We estimate it could easily contain 24 Mt LCE or 50% more than Roche Dure, which at 16 Mt LCE is itself of similar size to Greenbushes.

This effectively only left AVZ with Roche Dure but with Chinese interests clearly intent on taking control of that deposit as well in time.

AVZ indicated that they had a total exploration target of 1 to 1.2 billion tonnes @ 1.5% Li2O which would equate to between 31 Mt LCE and 44.5 Mt LCE, making it by far the largest known hard rock lithium deposit in the world if confirmed. These projections do not seem unrealistic.

The latest resource estimate is 842 Mt @ 1.61% Li2O (33.5 Mt LCE) for the entire Manono field and additional deposits exist further to the north east which are being explored by another company (AJN Resources).

Despite several rulings in AVZ’s favour by the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce and the ICSID, AVZ were unable to regain control and it was apparent that without higher level political involvement from a western power that the project would probably fall entirely under Chinese control. The deadlock may have been broken in May 2025 when the high-profile mining company KoBold Metals of the USA announced their intention to acquire AVZ’s 60.5% interest in Roche Dure, with US Government backing, thus assuring some access to the resource for US battery manufacturers.

Manono therefore has the potential to completely reshape the hard rock lithium mining landscape. However, development will be time consuming and expensive due to the remote location and poor transport infrastructure. The Chinese will be well placed to refurbish the railway line across Tanzania to the port of Dar es Salaam, a port which Chinese construction companies have already upgraded and expanded. As of early 2025, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation had agreed to invest in modernising the line. KoBold Metals will have to overcome similar challenges to those that AVZ faced to ship product to Lobito in Angola, particularly between the mine and the Lobito Atlantic Railway terminal. However modernisation of the line across Angola has also been underway since 2023, financed by the US DFC and the western operator Trafigura wish to extend these works to Kolwezi in the DRC. Therefore both the USA and China are actively developing the infrastructure that will be needed to exploit Manono.