Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite has said the Federal Government is set to build a gems’market in Ibadan, Oyo State.
 
Adegbite made this known yesterday in Ibadan when he received two hectares of land documents donated for that purpose by the Oyo State Government. The land is located at Ojoo, along Ibadan-Oyo Road, in Akiinyele Local Government Area of the state.
 
“This is an initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari; part of the post- COVID-19 palliatives that is being done by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development. It is aimed at developing the activities in the sector within the six zones in the country,” Adegbite said…
 
More details through:
https://thenationonlineng.net/fed-govt-to-build-gemstone-market-in-ibadan/

Nigeria exported N5.5bn solid mineral goods while the import component stood at $90.2m (N35.2bn) in the third quarter of 2020.
 
This was disclosed in the foreign trade statistics report for the third quarter of 2020 obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics. Part of the report read, “The total trade in solid mineral goods stood at N40.8bn in Q3, 2020, comprising an import component of N35.2bn and export component of N5.5bn.
 
“The major products exported under this sector were other cement exported to Niger Republic, worth N1.4bn. “This was followed by cement clinkers exported to Cameroon, worth N1.2bn as well as lead ores and concentrate exported to China, worth N1.0bn…
 
More details through:
https://punchng.com/nigeria-imports-n35-2bn-solid-minerals-in-three-months/

A British firm, Panthera Resources Plc, has announced that its associated company, Moydow Holdings Limited, has commenced drilling at its Paimasa Project in Nigeria. The diversified gold exploration and development company with assets in West Africa and India, said the drilling commenced through Moydow’s joint venture company, Gurara Holdings Limited (Gurara). The company made the announcement in a disclosure sent to the London Stock Exchange.
 
It explained that the Paimasa Project is located in central Nigeria, approximately 115km north-northwest of the capital city Abuja. A programme of 300m diamond and 1250m reverse circulation (RC) drilling is proposed, it said.
 
Previous drilling by Moydow in nearby tenements at the Dagma prospect, approximately 45km to the north-northwest resulted in the identification of significant gold mineralisation within quartz veins discovered by artisanal miners. Highlights of the project include extensive artisanal mining activity on several sub-parallel quartz veins…
 
More details through:
https://www.newtelegraphng.com/british-firm-begins-gold-mining-in-nigeria/
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The Jigawa State Government says that it has already secured 11 mining licenses from the Federal Ministry of Steel and Mines for interested investors to harness in the State.
 
Speaking in Dutse at the stakeholders consultantation with federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) organised by the Jigawa State investment Promotion Agency (InvestJigawa), the Deputy Governor, Mallam Namadi Umar, said the State Government is ready to lend support to any interested investor willing to carry out mining business in the State.
 
Umar said that the mining business is capital intensive and as such government alone cannot handle it without the partnerships with investors…
 
More details through:
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/jigawa-secures-11-mining-licenses-for-potential-investors/
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Seventeen months after the Egyptian government lamented its disadvantaged trade position with Nigeria, both countries have begun a process of collaboration in mining.
 
To this end, Egypt Petroleum Minister, Tarek el Molla, recently held a meeting with Nigerian Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uchechukwu Ogah, to discuss means of boosting bilateral cooperation.
 
The meeting took up projects designed for joint action with the aim to best benefit from riches of both countries in light of promising investment opportunities…
 
More details through:
https://www.newtelegraphng.com/egypt-nigeria-explore-pact-in-mining-sector/
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The Federal Government plans to establish solid mineral processing hubs in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
 
While speaking at the 2020 Nigeria Mining Week, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said the hubs would be cited close to the locations of artisanal miners.
 
He made this known while addressing the topic ‘Formalising Artisanal and small scale mining: The urgent need to formulate adequate policies’…
 
More details through:
https://punchng.com/fg-to-establish-solid-minerals-processing-hubs/
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Diversifying its operation, from Maritime Services, Japaul has entered into agreement with Chinese firm, Xiang Hui International Mining Nigeria Company Limited, for a $12 million mining project in four Nigerian states.
 
The agreement signed between the two firms will take off immediately, and employ not less than two million persons to work on site for the next 12 months.
 
Speaking with The Guardian, Group Chairman, Japaul Gold and Ventures PLC, Jegede Abiodun Paul, said: “Japaul just diversified into mining, and today is the ceremony of agreement with the Chinese company to start drilling campaign on our exploration gold site across Nigeria, from Benue, Taraba, Osun, and Niger states…
 
More details through:
https://guardian.ng/business-services/japaul-begins-12million-mining-project-in-nigeria/

The Secretary of the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Initiative, PAGMI, Hajiya Fatima Shinkafi, has disclosed that more investors are indicating interest in Nigeria’s gold value chain. 
 
She further projected that one of the key programmes implemented by the PAGMI, the integration of artisanal gold mining, would on an annual basis, grow Nigeria’s tax income by an average of $150 million, attract royalties of $25 million, and boost the country’s foreign reserves by $500 million annually…
 
More details through:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/11/investors-interest-growing-in-nigerias-gold-value-chain-pagmi/

The Federal Government is collaborating with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation and the Miners Association of Nigeria to ensure the production of mercury-free gold in Nigeria.
 
All three parties agreed to work together to achieve the target at the virtual inception workshop for the project preparatory grant of the Global Environment Facility PlanetGold in Nigeria.
 
The virtual workshop, which was monitored by our correspondent in Abuja, had its theme as ‘Enhancing formalisation and mercury-free gold in Nigeria’…
 
More details through:
https://punchng.com/fg-unido-miners-collaborate-on-gold-production/
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The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, last weekend said Nigeria may end steel importation soon when a $1.5 billion steel plant being built by African Natural Resources and Mines Limited at Jere in Kaduna State comes on stream. The firm has one million metric tonnes (MT) capacity of daily production.
 
The minister who inspected the plant along with the management of the company, further noted that Nigeria was on the path of industrialization which will be yielding results five years from now. “Producing one million metric tonnes of steel per annum means that Nigeria will really be well on its way of being independent of importing steel into our country and this will attract other investors,” Zainab said…
 
More details through:
https://dailytrust.com/minister-hopeful-1-5bn-kaduna-plant-will-end-steel-imports