He explained that for Nigeria to attract mining investment, the country must first have an investment-based geological data.
Browsing: Dr. Kayode Fayemi
“Since the inception of this administration, no licence for coal has been issued that is not for the purpose of power generation, so if you acquire a licence for mining coal you have to also have that for power.
“To our knowledge, this style of high-grade native nickel metal deposit has not been previously documented.”
The Minister explained that building a competitive mining value chain means firms operating in Nigeria must compete on quality and cost versus global peers.
Fayemi stressed that government’s ambition goes beyond just extraction and exportation rather it aims to create a globally competitive sector capable of contributing to wealth creation, job creation and the advancement of social and human security.
According to him, under the new roadmap, there would be an independent regulatory agency for the mining industry as being advocated for by the operators in the mining sector.
Nickel is primarily sold for first use as refined metal. About 65 percent of it consumed in the West is used to produce stainless steel.
Fayemi said the ministry will not leave any stone unturned in its bid to reposition the sector for effective service delivery, and to actualise the economic diversification and job creation goals of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
He noted that to achieve this, the government invited experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct a week-long training for nuclear practitioners and security officers in the country on the extraction, exploitation and utilisation of the substance.
He said a recent report by the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, which said, Nigeria’s current core infrastructure stocks gap is, based on international benchmarks, is estimated at $80 billion.