By Bisola Adeyemo
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has encouraged investors to invest in mining and processing, stressing that whatever is mined in Nigeria must be processed in the country.
The minister stated this in Bauchi State on Tuesday, while visiting the Bauchi Governor, Sen. Bala Mohammed in his office.
After inspecting the Kaolin processing plant in the state, the minister lamented that the Nigeria government is losing money and jobs by exporting raw ore, instead of refining it in the country.
“We are in that process that we feel that any mineral that is mined in Nigeria should be processed locally so that there will be some benefits. We are losing a lot of money; we are losing wealth as well as our jobs by exporting raw ore.”the minister said.
The minister further disclosed that there is a downstream policy in place that will prevent the exportation of raw ores.
He added that the establishment of a Kaolin processing plant in Bauchi would prevent the exportation of raw Kaolin and the importation of industrial-grade Kaolin for pharmaceutical companies in the country.
While speaking on its uses, the minister noted that Kaolin could be used in the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics industry, paint industry, and paper industry, stressing the need to mine it, create wealth, jobs and generate revenue for the government.