FG Halts Processing Of Solid Minerals Outside Producing Communities

The federal government said henceforth all companies involved in solid minerals exploration in the country would not be allowed to process their products outside the producing communities in order to enhance the capacity of local residents, create jobs and local markets.
The minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, stated this in Lafia yesterday while in the state for a two-day on-the-spotinspection of abandoned and existing mining sites in the state.
He said, “The era of producing raw materials and shipping them out of the producing states is gone, you must process locally,” adding however, that government would give investors a period of grace before it would commence enforcing compliance in order to allow for companies to setup their processing machinery.
The minister also lamented the plethora of crisis that arise from issuance of consent as provided by law before commencement of  exploration, saying in the future state governments would be injected into the process to serve as authenticating guarantor.
Fayemi called on state governments to set up their mining company as entities or do so in collaboration with proficient investors in the mining sector, stressing that the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development would deploy more personnel to monitor activities at mining sites in Nasarawa State.
In his remarks, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura said the state, dubbed  ‘Home of Solid Minerals’ is home to over 70 different kinds of solid minerals, most of which are in commercial quantity.