Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, claims that Nigeria is endowed with high-quality commercial minerals in over 500 locations across the country.
On Thursday, Adegbite stated this during his speech at the 2022 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), International Convention, Trade Show, and Investors Exchange in Toronto, Canada.
The speech titled: ”The Mechanisms of Transparency and Commitment in Mining Governance as Tool for Attracting Foreign Direct Investment to Nigeria’’
Transparency and Commitment Mechanisms in Mining Governance as a Tool for Attracting Foreign Direct Investment to Nigeria”
He claims that Nigeria has 44 different types of minerals in commercial quantities in over 500 locations across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He stated that these minerals cover a wide range of mineral spectrums, and that these deposits are classified into five groups based on their uses.
He mentioned baryte, kaolin, gypsum, feldspar, limestone, and energy minerals like coal, bitumen, lignite, and uranium.
Other minerals include gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead-zinc, and copper; and construction minerals such as granite, laterite, and sand.
Among the precious stones are sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst, and garnet.
“This clearly demonstrates the wide mineral spectrum we are endowed with, which offers limitless opportunities along the value chain, for job creation, revenue growth and others.
“Nigeria provides one of the highest rates of return because its minerals are closer to the surface,” he said.
He stated that the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Programme (NIMEP), which was designed to generate bankable geoscientific data quickly, had completed the first phase of the mineral exploration project.
He stated that the project’s goal was to de-risk the sector and attract high-quality investments, and that the first phase’s target minerals included gold, lead zinc, iron ore, and battery minerals, among others.
He said, “The contractors have executed and completed the exploration works on Gold, Platinum Group of Elements (PGEs), Lead-Zinc, Iron Ore and Barites; results on Greenfields and Brownfields are in process to be declared for investment opportunities.”
He stated that the Federal Government of Nigeria, in its unwavering commitment to the sector, had provided assistance by establishing a strong policy and regulatory framework to attract development.
“That robust structure, line by line, is possibly our strongest argument today, for seeking to attract investment into Nigeria.
“Nigeria has been part of this event for several years because of our determination to see exponential growth of the mining sector’s contribution to our GDP more than it has done in the past forty years.
“We are here to collaborate and network with global leaders, professionals, investors, and Chief Executives of junior, mid-tier and major mining companies,” he said.
According to the minister, the Federal Government has also begun the process of obtaining Nigeria’s colonial geological data from the United Kingdom.
He said, “We are engaging the British Geological Survey (BGS) to build a national electronic geo-data archiving management system to be called the Nigerian Geo-Data Center at the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA).
“This will provide easy access to geoscience data for prospective investors on potential areas to target for exploration and mining within and outside Nigeria.
“Currently, there is an ongoing review of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007.
“The aimed of the review is to bring legislation into conformity with global best practices, limiting the role of government to that of regulation and creating space for the private sector to maintain a more expansive presence in the sector.”
