Nigeria has the mineral resources the future need to power electric cars and phones, Minister of Mines and Steel Development , Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite has revealed
He spoke during one of the investors forum at the just concluded Mining Conference in Riyadh Saudi, where he implored the majors to invest in the Nigerian mining sector.
A statement by his media aide ,Ayodeji Adeyemi,also disclosed that some major Mining companies had began to express interest in the nation’s mining sector.
He said Nigeria intends to auction rights to mine some strategic minerals later this year.
“We have strengthened governance and transparency in the sector and provided assurance to investors through the upgrade, automation, and decentralization of the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO); We are improving the connectivity between investors and the public with important geological information through the establishment of a Nigeria Geo-Data Centre at the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency” Adegbite added.
He noted that the country had learnt its lessons from over 50 years of resource extraction.
He said:”As we deepen our efforts to revitalize the mining sector, we are doing so with lessons learnt from a half-century of resource extraction. We recognize, for instance, that it is not enough to seek investments merely for the sake of exploitation and extraction. Rather than writing this new chapter of economic growth, our aim is to develop local industries, generate employment, and focus on resource beneficiation to create wealth along the mineral value chain.
