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Nigerian Minister
of Mines and Steel
Development
Olamikekan Adegbite

What the Australian miners say: The bitious plans to build an integrated iron ore- the country.
guys operating there have been there a steel complex and WMC veteran Hugh Mor- There is, however, indications the trend is
long time, it is a very educated workforce gan’s Comet Minerals is still trying to solve shifting. President Muhammed Buhari ran
and there is a seasoned regulatory struc- the mystery of the near-pure nickel balls for office on an anti-corruption platform and
ture and industry. The biggest question is found on its Titan project in Kaduna State. has implemented policies to increase trans-
the cost of working there. You are paying Nigerian Minister of Mines and Steel De- parency.
for that maturity in operating costs and it velopment, Olamilekan Adegbite told Pay- The Government is also refining its Min-
can be prohibitive. dirt his Government was well aware of the ing Act – legislated in 2007 and based ex-
discrepancy. tensively on the West Australian equivalent
Rankings: Ghana “We have never promoted our minerals, it – to incentivise exploration and development
has always been about oil and gas,” Adeg- and has established financial breaks, includ-
Transparency International Corruption Index: World Bank Ease of doing business (2020): Fraser Institute Investment Attractive Index: ment is eager to redress the balance and ment to finetune it and the Government is
bite admitted.
ing tax holidays and capital allowances, for
43
73
118
new projects.
However, with the global tide turning
180
190
84
against fossil fuels, the Nigerian Govern-
“The Mining Act is going back to parlia-
fully backing it with lots of incentives for jun-
establish itself as a hard rock mining desti-
nation to rival others in West Africa.
iors and mid-tier miners,” Adegbite said.
“It is well known for companies to go to
Miners could also benefit from Nigeria’s oil
and gas experience and established heavy
Ghana, Burkina Faso, etc but I hear them
industry.
say: ‘You guys have mining? The gospel we
are taking around the world it that ‘yes, Ni-
“In some ways oil and gas is not too dif-
geria is a mining country and it is open for
port services in Nigeria,” Adegbite said. “The
business’,” he said.
financial services are there, the engineering
Adegbite acknowledged his country’s lack ferent to mining, and there are already sup- The ADU Ministerial dinner – held at the State Reception Centre, King’s Park – attracted more than 200 guests
of geological information was a hindrance to and construction services are there, we just
convincing investors they should consider need some added capability and a few com-
Nigeria Nigeria. plementary services.”
“People are reluctant to commit be-
While Adegbite can point to relative ad-
cause it is an unknown from a mineral per- vantages, he knows investors require con-
As the most populous and largest economy spective,” he said. “But the Government crete evidence of success. As such, he
on the continent, it is incongruous that Nige- has put $50 million into exploration and understands the importance of Thor flour-
ria boasts little commercial mining or even we have had good results from the NIMEP ishing.
exploration. [The National Integrated Mineral Explora- “Thor is an example of what can be
When TSX-listed Thor Explorations Ltd tion Project] pre-competitive data.” achieved,” he said. “They have been devel-
opened its Segilola gold mine in the coun- The wider economic climate continues oping the Segilola project for six years and
try’s south-west in July 2021, it became the to be an impediment to foreign investment are now exporting gold. It is the perfect ex-
first commercial-scale mining operation in with corruption and security risks as well ample of a foreign company being success-
the country. Other than Thor, ASX-listed as a lack of regulatory and legislative re- ful.”
Kogi Iron Ltd has ploughed on with its am- form leading Western companies to shun Adegbite is confident Thor’s achieve-
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