From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite has said the ministry will start refining barite. He stated this in Abuja after receiving the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP) report.
Barite is a natural mineral that can be found throughout the country.
Adegbite explained that the measure would encourage local production and attract investors and that the Ministry would seek further funds for exploration initiatives in other natural resources.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr, Oluwatoyin Akinlade expressed immense satisfaction with the Staff of the Ministry for conceptualizing NIMEP , which she noted was very important, not only to the Mining and Mineral sector alone, but to Nigeria at large. She enjoined all Nigerians to take advantage of the abundant national resources in Nigeria and work assiduously, towards moving the Country to greater heights.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, Dr Abdulrazak Garba in his remarks revealed that the project was working on the mining of diverse mineral resources around the country.
Garba stressed that the project’s design mandated the involvement of international Competent Persons (CP) in contract execution and the consulting team to ensure compliance with international best practices.
He also noted that the exploration contracts were given following screening by the government and Bureau of Public Procurement.
Dr Warwick Crowe, one of the Project’s contractors, stated that the exploration technique utilized was effective and would be used for the investigation of other minerals in the future.
He added that the study went through five phases, the first of which included desktop investigations, spectral geology, and the processing and interpretation of existing airborne data.