Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite says the Federal Government is building a world class mining sector that would be the toast of investors.
A statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Ayodeji Adeyemi, said the minister gave the assurance during the commissioning of the Fire Assay Laboratory and Earthquake Monitoring Centre of the National Geosciences Research Laboratory Centre Kaduna, on Friday.
The Fire Assay laboratory is owned by the National Geosciences Research Laboratory Centre Kaduna, which is under the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, an agency of the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
He quoted the minister as saying: “The commissioning is a testament to the impressive policy drive of President Buhari administration,” stating that President Buhari is the only president that has put extra budgetary funds into the sector to develop it.”
The Fire Assay laboratory is the first of its type in Nigeria and is considered the most reliable means for accurately determining the content of gold, silver, and platinum-group metals in ores or concentrates.
The minister noted that the Laboratory was a crucial analytical infrastructure needed in the mining sector to accurately determine the concentrate of precious metals in ore, noting that the development was bound to take the mining sector to the next level.
The Minister further explained that the establishment of a Fire Assay laboratory was a crucial step towards making the country a major mining destination.
“We now have the analytical facilities that can support the mining ecosystem in the country, and this is bound to attract more foreign interest in to the sector,” he said.
Adegbite also noted that the Fire Assay Laboratory would save the country millions of dollars spent outside the country to conduct such analysis on metal ores.
“With the establishment of a fire Assay laboratory, we do not need to take metal ores out of the country to determine the level of concentrate of precious metals, thereby expending our scares foreign exchange in other countries.
“This fire Assay laboratory would free up scarce foreign exchange, and also serve as a revenue generator for government as companies who want to mine precious metals would no longer need to send samples out of the country but now send them to our laboratory in Kaduna which would be a source of revenue generation for the government.”
The Minister commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his support to the mining sector, noting that his administration had allocated special intervention funds for the sector to enhance its geo-science data generation capacity.
The statement quoted the minister as saying: ‘Indeed, we thank president Muhammadu Buhari for giving this sector the push it needs to become a choice mining destination in the mining world.
“No other administration has allocated the resources that the present administration has, to the mining sector and for that we are grateful.”
Speaking about the earthquake monitoring equipment, the minister noted that it was important for monitoring and measuring tremors.
The Director General of Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, Dr. Abdulrazaq Garba equally agreed that the establishment of a Fire Assay laboratory would enhance Nigeria’s status as a Mining jurisdiction in the global mining world.
He further stated that it would save the country foreign exchange spent on conducting such analysis in other countries.”
“With the commissioning of this Fire Assay laboratory, we can now conduct analysis of gold and platinum group metals, and as a mineral analysis outfit, this would contribute immensely to the economic growth of the country as we save the nation foreign exchange that would have been spent on conducting the analysis abroad.
Dr Garba said: “Before now, many foreign investors had been asking if Nigeria has a Fire Assay laboratory that can support the mining sector in the country. With the establishment of one now, it is bound to be a welcome news to foreign investors.”
The Director General noted that some companies involved in the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project, NIMEP, programme spent millions of dollars to obtain such analysis outside the country.
