JORC compliant mineral exploration giant – Titan Minerals is top on the list of corporate operators driving the 8th edition of the Nigeria Mining Week, a three-day international mining conference hosted by the Federal Government in collaboration with the Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN).
The conference, which also has Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Vuka Group as premium drivers, is expected to attract over 2000 participants from across the world. It is scheduled for 1st to 3rd November 2023.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Mary Ada Ogbe who announced the schedule in Abuja, recently, said the conference would showcase the investment potentials of the country’s mining sector toward attaining set goal of economic diversification.
The Permanent Secretary commended the partners, saying: ‘We are proud to collaborate with our partners namely the Miners Association of Nigeria, PwC and the Vuka Group, who have demonstrated great commitments towards actualizing the objectives of this great event,’ stating, ‘It is our earnest expectation that the Nigeria Mining Week 2023 will be an event which will evolve value creation, encapsulating meaningful attributes that would lead to economic growth and sustainable development.’
The Permanent Secretary invited all stakeholders to work with the ministry to collectively revitalize the Mining Industry, and enable it to effectively address the ever-evolving global trends and challenges.
In his remarks, President, Miners Association of Nigeria, Mr. ‘Dele Ayanleke said the whole world is in transit from the era of fossil energy to green energy, stating that Nigeria has the huge deposits of minerals needed for the transition. He called on stakeholders to participate in the conference and explore the opportunity of sharing knowledge and experience needed to maximize the realization of set goals.
In his special mention, the Business Development Manager, Nigeria Mining Week, Mr. Kudakwashe Tsingano commended Titan Minerals the exclusive Diamond Plus sponsors of the event, while also commending AFC (Platinum Sponsor), and gold sponsors namely PW Nigeria, Minelab, Rapidlink Resources and Avant-Grade and participating state governments among others.
In an earlier interview, the Managing Director, Titan Minerals, Mr. Fadi Abou Ghazale said investing in the mining industry, especially gold assets is a genuine method of leverage against inflation, noting that such an investment will lessen the effect of the economic challenges of the current crisis in West Africa and other parts of the world.
Mr. Fadi stated: ‘In our quest to unlocking Nigeria’s mineral potential, we face challenges in building resilience among our team members while trying to adapt to new environments, to market demands, to pressure, to inflation, to prices. And so far, we are trying as much as possible to be considerate of the current situation, because everything is going up and so our operational costs are going up.
‘Holistically, Nigeria is advancing but such growth is a work-in-progress, and is something that will take years and years to build up in order for Nigeria to attain its mining goals,’ he added.
Speaking from the perspective of a pioneer in the Nigerian mining sector, the Managing Director expressed optimism that Nigeria would be able to harness its solid minerals and provide jobs for its large and mostly young population.
‘You will see that by the time the industry starts growing, it will lead to the creation of new opportunities and the formation of service clusters, it will shape the education system while generating a sense of belonging and strong hope of a bright future,’ he added.
When asked of his message at the upcoming Nigeria Mining Week, he said: ‘We are excited, we look forward to gaining a wider exposure. We want the local companies to get acquainted with our unique mineral exploration services and the global juniors to know that the Nigerian market already entails high renowned exploration companies with an access to globally recognized experts with a vast experience in Nigeria’s distinctive geological terrain.’
When asked to discuss his industry experience in view of the 2022 edition of Nigeria Mining Week, he stated: ‘Becoming a diamond sponsor for this year shows the value that our company has been able to extract from Nigeria Mining Week. We are working with great people and a great team And we believe that it is the biggest hub for any mining activity happening in Nigeria.
Ghazale said Titan Minerals, formerly known as AGVision, is currently advancing several assets along the Schist Belt to drilling stage, with high prospects in gold, tungsten, lead, nickel, scandium, among others.
‘There are several ongoing and completed geological mapping and geochemical sampling programmes on battery minerals with focus on lithium pegmatites,’ he said.
He said the organization is also currently overseeing and drilling on numerous base metals assets (lead, zinc and copper) within the Benue Trough with more than 5,000 meters of diamond, adding that the drilling is being executed and assayed.
He said Titan Minerals is exploring and drilling for tin and columbite mineralisation within the younger granite around the Jos, Plateau State.
Discussing some public projects being executed by Titan Minerals in the country, he said: ‘Last year, Titan Minerals handed over the final report on the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Programme (NIMEP) to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD) and the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), adding that the project targeted two programmes, namely, vein gold and base metals associations, and PGE-Ni-Cr-Co mineralisation.
He said: ‘Titan Minerals is honoured and proud to have discovered new mineral systems in Nigeria and we have demonstrated the existence of economic resources,’ adding that it is currently engaged with the MMSD and the NGSA on attracting investors that would move the discoveries to feasibility and eventually extraction.
‘We are drilling for the National Geological Survey Agency on numerous commodities i.e. drilling on phosphate in Sokoto, bitumen in Edo and Ondo, gold and associated minerals along the Schist Beit,’ he added.
Chuma Amazingo who represented Mr. Cyril Azobu said PwC supported the sector over the years starting from the PwC Roundtable which transcended to the Nigeria Mining Week, adding that it will sustain its commitment to solving problems of the industry.
He said: ‘The mining sector remains one of the key sectors that would contribute significantly to the diversification agenda of the current administration and the need to move Nigeria into a non-oil dependent economy,’ adding that government is taking the mining sector seriously, a development that excited PwC towards the prospects and opportunities that the sector provides.
