The Federal government, through the Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), has conducted a mineral clinic across the country to boost the mining sectors for economic diversification.
It also noted that the mineral clinic is to diagnose and treat pertinent issues that affect the minerals and metals sector in Nigeria such as the dearth of geosciences data, and high-cost exploration activities among others.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, while addressing journalists in Abuja, at the unveiling of the “Mineral Promotion, Sensitization and Dissemination Mineral Clinic.” said that the mineral clinic will contribute to the economic development of the country.
Akinlade who was represented by the ministry’s Director Special Duty, Comfort Kabirwa, said, “I am indeed highly delighted to be part of NGSA’s mineral clinic designed to provide a veritable opportunity for stakeholders to interact and be better informed on minerals in Nigeria.
“I believe it is aimed to diagnose and treat pertinent issues that affect the minerals and metal sector in Nigeria such as the dearth of geosciences data, and high-cost exploration activities among others.
“I am therefore very optimistic that at the end of this event, we will all be better informed about Minerals in Nigeria and this should lead to better economic decisions for the mutual benefit of all. The Sector is faced with many challenges especially funding, but this hasn’t deterred this Agency from making appreciable progress on many fronts.”
She commends the Director-General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Dr Abdulrazak Garba and its Management for aq successful mineral exploration projects.
In his remarks, the Director-General, of NGSA, Dr Abdulrazak Garba, said the NGSA trains its staff across the board both locally and internationally to enhance the input and output of the Mineral clinic.
He said: “The data generated by NGSA prompted the Agency to re-organized the mineral clinics in the six geopolitical zones which was a huge success. In the zones, over 400 hundred potential investors attended the mineral clinics and over 100 samples of rocks and minerals were tested with Hand-Held XRF free of charge.
“We are also making plans to extend such gestures to all the States of the Federation. This we believe will spur the desired goal of creating awareness, sensitization and dissemination of geoscientific data to the lowest level.
“Mineral clinic is to ensure that the goals scored in the area of geosciences data generation is effectively exposed and digested by the investors, academia, students and stakeholders through sensitization and dissemination of geoscientific information on various solid mineral deposits in the country as well as responding to inquiries from the public.
“NGSA will go the extra mile to ensure that geoscience information on Nigeria’s mineral resources is disseminated to the public.”
Also speaking, the Acting President, of the Miners Association of Nigeria, (Man), Alhaji Musa Mohammed, said that the association would continue to work with the agency to achieve its objectives.
He said: “The association is undertaking the project of establishing of mineral processing and buying hubs across the six geopolitical zones of the country begin from Kogi State where arrangements are being finalized to set up gold and lithium processing plants, hence the need have good knowledge of bankable geoscience data to be able to make informed investments.”
