Ministry woos mining investors as Nigeria holds 5th Mining Week

Minister of Mines and Steel Development Arc Olamilekan Adegbite has revealed several reasons why investors should invest in Nigeria Mining sector.

He stated this at the 5th Annual Nigeria Mining Week, titled “Seven Compelling Reasons to Invest in Nigeria’s Mining Sector.”

However, he said, “I can give you a hundred compelling reasons to invest in Nigeria’s mining sector. For starters, we are endowed with over 44 different mineral types occurring in commercial quantities in over 500 locations across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. These mineral endowments broadly cut across the various mineral spectrums.”

He added that, “We have industrial minerals such as barite, kaolin, gypsum, feldspar, and limestone. We are endowed with energy minerals such as bitumen, lignite, and uranium.

We also have metallic ore minerals such as gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead-zinc, and copper.

There are construction mineral types such as granite, gravel, laterite, and sand. We also have the precious stone variety such as sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst, and garnet, just to mention a few.

This clearly demonstrates the wide mineral spectrum we are endowed with, which offers limitless opportunities for exploitation, job creation, revenue growth, and economic development;” he said.

The Minister added that, “Out of the 44-mineral endowment, seven were selected for immediate development. They are coal, iron ore, bitumen, gold, limestone, lead-zinc, and barite. We have also adopted a forward-thinking approach by developing the strategic minerals of the future. These include minor metals such as titanium and cobalt, which are vital to futuristic industries such as telecoms and electric vehicle manufacturing.

We have indeed created a very business-friendly environment in the mining sector through reforms that grew out of the roadmap for the growth and development of the Nigerian mining industry. The roadmap, which was formulated in 2016, gave us clear policy direction on how to develop the sector, which we have adhered to religiously to unlock the potential in the sector.”

Also; “Transparency has been our watch word and cornerstone upon which the mining industry has been administered, as we continue to foster a culture of openness which will, in turn, engender trust between all stakeholders in the industry,” he said.