- Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, announced this significant development after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on a Monday
- He explained that this MOU was executed under the government’s Solid Mineral Development Plan (SMDF)
Nigeria has formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GEO-SCAN, a prominent German mining technology company, to conduct comprehensive searches for untapped mineral resources throughout the nation.
Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, announced this significant development after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on a Monday.
He explained that this MOU was executed under the government’s Solid Mineral Development Plan (SMDF).
The primary objective of this MOU is to propel the exploration, exploitation, and prudent management of revenue generated from Nigeria’s solid minerals. Minister Alake believes that this collaboration will play a pivotal role in advancing the nation’s progress.
Additionally, he revealed that Nigeria’s mineral resources are conservatively estimated to be worth $700 billion, lying beneath the surface and currently accounting for only about 0.02% of global mining activity.
“Currently, those to whom we grant licences without this added advantage end up discovering additional mineral deposits for us, and at that point, we can consider granting them mining licences.
“The Ministry of Solid Minerals broke a landmark record by signing an MOU with one of the top-notch geo-scientific technology companies in the world, which is Geo-scan GMDH, a German company through the Solid Mineral Development Plan, SMDF.”
Alake explained that the company plans to set up its plant and operate across the country; he stated that this will allow Nigeria to extensively tap into its diverse mineral resources.
The minister added that this would eventually provide opportunities for the federal government to quantify the full extent of Nigeria’s solid mineral resources.
He further stated that the MOU is at no cost to the Nigerian government, adding that it has been fully supported by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz and the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu.
“Now that this technology is 80 percent cheaper than current processes in the world, it is three times faster to locate deposits down on the ground. With our mineral resources, which are conservatively estimated at $700 billion, under the ground, we constitute about 0.02 percent of the global mining budget.”
The Minister further emphasised that Nigeria will be at the advantage of critical minerals, often referred to as critical metals, which, according to him, are abundant in Nigeria.
“Considering the current worldwide focus on addressing climate change and transitioning to electric vehicles, batteries, electronic components, and various technological equipment, the demand for these minerals is on the rise.”
He added that the Geo-SCAN technology is 80percent cheaper than current processes in the world and also three times faster to locate deposits down
Alake further revealed that with Nigeria’s estimated solid minerals deposit, the country still have over 90 per cent of the entire landscape of Nigeria unexplored.