Nigerian mining industry gets $1billion investment

“The project which spreads across various locations in the country, is expected to employ 4,000 Nigerians” 

Equator Mines Limited, a Nigerian mining company, has signed a contract with a United Kingdom firm and two other South African companies to improve mining production in Bauchi, Plateau and Kaduna States.

The Managing Director of Equator Mines Limited, Engr. Gallio Dagu, revealed that the firms; Savannah Mining Limited (United Kingdom based), Equator Minis and VML Resources (both from South Africa) are to inject $1billion into the Nigerian company.

Dagu, who made this known in Abuja, said that one of the targets of the contract is to produce 50,000 tons of tin in the short term and scale it up to 100,000 tons in the long term.

He said the company will also exploit about 100,000 ounces of gold in Kebbi State.

“On gold, we intend to produce 50,000 ounces every month in the short-term. Then in the long term, when we increase the reserve, we intend to produce about 100,000 ounces of smelted ounces every month.”

Dagu said that the business plan has already made provision for the engagement of labour, in accordance with the Minerals and Mining Act of 2007. According to him, the project which spreads across various locations in the country, is expected to employ 4,000 Nigerians.

Prior to 1975, Nigeria was a major exporter of  tin, columbite, and coal, with an annual production of tin concentrates which peaked at about 11,000 tonnes. This has now declined drastically to about 2,000 tonnes.

In recent times, there has been renewed interest in tin mining in Nigeria and the Nigerian Tin Mining Company has put the proven tin reserves on the Jos Plateau at about 31,773 tonnes. The mining of minerals in Nigeria accounts for only 0.3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), due to the influence of vast oil resources.

-Latest Nigeria Investment News

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Emmanuel Chidiogo

Source: DailyTimes