THE Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, says the Federal Government is losing money and jobs by exporting raw ore, instead of refining it in the country.
He said this when he visited the office of the Bauchi State Governor, Sen. Bala Mohammed, after inspecting the Kaolin processing plant in the state.
This was contained in a press statement issued by the ministry on Tuesday.
The minister was quoted as saying, “We are in that process that we feel that any mineral that is mined in Nigeria should be processed locally so that there will be some benefits. We are losing a lot of money; we are losing wealth as well as our jobs by exporting raw ore.”
The minister further disclosed that there is a downstream policy in place that will prevent the exportation of raw ores.
He added that the establishment of a Kaolin processing plant in Bauchi would prevent the exportation of raw Kaolin and the importation of industrial-grade Kaolin for pharmaceutical companies in the country.
He noted that Kaolin could be used in the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics industry, paint industry, and paper industry, stressing the need to mine it, create wealth, jobs and generate revenue for the government.
He encouraged investors to invest in mining and processing, stressing that whatever is mined in Nigeria must be processed in the country.
The minister also said Nigeria currently has over 44 minerals with six processing zones, adding that there is room for investors to take advantage of the mining sector.
The governor expressed the state’s readiness to cooperate with the Federal Government in taking advantage of its abundant mineral resources to meet its financial obligations.
