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FG seeks US help on solid minerals deposits

By on January 9, 2016

The Federal Government has sought the assistance of the United States to determine the quality and quantity of solid minerals deposits available in the country.

Pursuant to this, the United States Geological Survey and its Nigerian counterpart will next week commence strategic engagements aimed at working out suitable technical partnership between the two countries.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, disclosed these at a meeting they had in Abuja on Thursday, according to a statement issued by Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode.

Fayemi said some of the issues confronting the Nigerian mining sector included the quality of the available data to determine the size of what the country had, and how the country could use bankable data to attract potential investors.

The Federal Government, he said, had approached the US to assist Nigeria in this area in order to determine the quality and quantity of the various minerals available considering the wealth of experience of the US Geological Survey.

He said the experience of the American institution would help Nigeria to improve on what it had in terms of its huge minerals deposits.

The minister also stated that Nigeria was focusing on how to improve on industrial minerals beyond exporting raw materials.

“Another area of cooperation will be in the improvement of monitoring. There is a need for the regulatory authorities to have effective monitoring mechanisms to effectively monitor what is available and how they are being exported as revealed by the NEITI report,” Fayemi stated.

He hailed the US government’s readiness to partner Nigeria, adding that the country was also working with institutions like the World Bank and other governments with vast experience in mining to help achieve President Muhammadu Buhari’s aspiration for the diversification of the economy through the solid minerals sector.

Entwistle explained that the geological survey agencies of the two countries would work on data collection with a view to determining the quantity of Nigeria’s mineral deposits.

He said the US Geological Survey would collaborate with the Nigerian agency to see what kind of technical cooperation might be possible, particularly in the area involving figuring out exactly what Nigeria had on the ground.

 

[Punch]