Alhaji Abubakar Bwari, the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, says the sector will soon embark on massive mineral data generation to bridge the information gap on minerals required by mining investors. Bwari announced this at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on exploration with the East China Meteorological Institute of Geological and Exploration in Abuja.
According to him, massive data generation can only be achieved if exploration is conducted.
He said over the years, Nigeria had been short of valuable credible data on mineral resources available in Nigeria.
He said that the Federal Government had done a lot of airborne, geological mapping but that was not enough, as investors required much more than that.
Mr Alexander Nwegbu, Director-General, Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), said the institute volunteered to assist the government on exploration, as it was time consuming and expensive.
Nwegbu, who signed the MOU, said that the institution had the capacity, competence to assist the government on explorations.
“The Federal Government cannot do exploration alone, therefore, competent stakeholders are needed to assist in generating geo-science data and East China has indicated interest; that is why we are here to sign the MOU.
“The institution is a reputable exploration company from China that indicated interest to assist in mineral exploration; it has sufficient capacity in terms of fund and skill,’’ he said.
The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency is an agency under the ministry, saddled with the responsibility to generate mineral data.
He said the chunk of the fund required for the exploration and lab analysis among others, would be provided by the China institute, adding that the huge load of the exercise would be lifted from the Federal Government.
He said the institution stood to gain a lot for collaborating with the government, if it discovered minerals at the course of exploration.
Mr Paul Kaizer, the leader of the delegation of the China institute, said the organisation would collaborate with the ministry to build up the database of critical mineral deposits in Nigeria.
