By Bisola Adeyemo
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has stressed collaboration and networking with global leaders, investors, and major mining companies to boost the mining sector.
The minister said on Wednesday in Toronto, Canada, at the 2022 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) International Convention, Trade Show, and Investors Exchange.
While delivering the good news about what is happening in the Nigerian mineral and metal sector, the minister said “it is on this premise that the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, in collaboration with industry stakeholders, vowed to pull resources and colidate on the 2016 Roadmap for the Growth and Development of the Nigerian Mining Industry.
“In pursuit of outlined set forth in the roadmap, the government initiated an ambitious reform regime in the sector, the flagship of which was the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Programme (NIMEP), designed to rapidly generate bankable geoscientific data with the aim of de-risking the sector and attracting high caliber investments.
“We have also commenced the process of retrieving Nigeria’s colongeological data from the United Kingdom by 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 Geolinithe cal Survey Agency (NGSA).
” Similarly, part of our modest efforts towards achieving the desired aim is repositioning the Mining Cadastre Office to promote transparency in mineral title administration.” He added
“In addition to smoothly providing mineral titles, we have also institutionalized business-friendly incentives to encourage investment in Mining.
“In line with the economic diversification plan of the Government, my Ministry has issued a Request for Qualifications for bidders interested in receiving concessions to begin the production of bitumen in Nigeria as the country possesses about 42 billion tons of proven reserves of bitumen, estimated to be the sixth largest in the world.”
Adegbite, therefore, urged those who are still dithering in investing in the Nigerian Mining Sector to leap as the country still provides one of the highest rates of return on mining investment.