Minister Says Nigeria’s Solid Mineral Wealth Is $750 Billion Dollars.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, says Nigeria currently possesses a deposit of mineral products worth $750 billion dollars.

The minister who disclosed this at a two-day national stakeholders’ roundtable on sustainable development of the mining industry organized by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies with the theme ‘Sustainable Development of the Mining Industry in Nigeria’ in Abuja, said, the government is working to ensure the country becomes a promising investment destination for solid minerals development revealed that preliminary reports by a German firm, GeoScan, indicated that the nation is blessed with minerals worth a conservative amount of $750 billion dollars.

The summit, organized in partnership with Bruit Costaud was to brainstorm possible solutions to the issues faced in the mining sector.

Speaking in his address, Alake said the mining sector has the potential to contribute a large part of the nation’s goal to achieve a trillion-dollar economy as pushed by the current administration, adding that, the availability of data is important to attract investors that will establish plants in Nigeria to process the minerals and create a multiplier effect on job creation and economic growth.

According to the minister, the government is putting in place concrete measures that would shift attention away from fossil fuels to solid minerals, adding that, communities, where solid minerals are extracted from, must henceforth derive maximum benefit from solid minerals exploration.