Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
The federal government has reaffirmed its determination to ensure that the mining industry gets the right partnership it needed to be able contribute positively to the economy of the country.
Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Abubakar Bawa Bwari made the remark on Tuesday through the Deputy Director of Press, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Mrs. Rhoda Iliya.
According to the statement, the minister, during a meeting in his office with a delegation of Chinese investors from the East – China Metallurgical Institute of Geology and Exploration, led by the Director of the Institute, Mr. Liu Ling Sheng in Abuja, noted that a lot of proposals had been received from foreign investors interested in collaborating with the ministry on exploration and beneficiation in the mining sector.
The Ministry, he added, intends to partner genuine investors that can justify their interest in terms of competency, years of experience, availability of modern equipment, records of achievements and ability to provide jobs and capacity building to Nigerians in the mining sector.
Bwari told the visiting Chinese delegation who expressed interest in investing in the mining sector to submit their proposals to a technical committee to be established by the ministry to determine areas of interest and benefits to the two parties.
It said, earlier, a member of the delegation, Mr. Paul Ogbe Kaizer made a presentation on the profile of the Institute. The business scope of the Institute includes rock and mineral testing, risk assessment of geological disasters, solid mineral exploration hydrogeology, engineering geology, environmental geology investigation, geology drilling, geophysical and geochemical exploration, surveying and mapping, among others.
Kaizer stated that the Institute has modern and advanced mining equipment, records of achievements in lead and zinc, copper iron deposits, manganese and has won over forty awards in several regions in China in mining.
He added that the company has presence in Nigeria and has worked in Kogi, Kebbi and Nasarawa States mining coal, Lead and Zinc and Manganese. Adding that, the company is interested in collaborating with the Ministry in the area of mining and provision of jobs and capacity building to Nigerians in the mining sector.
