Minister Urges Growth Of Mineral Value Chains

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has urged Nigeria to compete with its rivals in creating the essential value chain for minerals in the mining business.

Adegbite made this statement at a summit with the title "Leveraging future minerals for sustainable development" that was held in Abuja on Thursday and sponsored by SoundCore Group.

He claimed that the nation could not afford to miss out on the race to develop its enormous mineral treasures.

By expanding the nation's energy mix in favor of renewable options, the administration had made fundamental measures to reverse the low electricity generation, he continued.

Adegbite said that many nations were aggressively initiating policies and strategic models to ensure the accelerated development of the critical energy minerals.  

He said that the U.S Senate in July passed an act with incentives for developing critical minerals, adding that Australia is also considering investment packages to stimulate exploration. 

This, he said also include mining and processing of these minerals, adding that China also stepped up imports from developing nations to bolster critical minerals stockpiles. 

According to him, the growing demand for critical minerals is propelled by the urgent need to secure a low-carbon future.  

“Countries are increasingly relying on rare earth elements and critical minerals to support their climate commitments,” he said.  

Adegbite said the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change emphasised the need to decline the use of non-renewable components in energy generation. 

He said renewable sources of energy provide an alternative to the energy transition economy. 

”The consequence of this major shift is a high demand for critical minerals for use in climate-friendly technologies. 

”The World Bank has estimated the demand for these minerals to triple by 2040. 

”Undoubtedly, the deployment of critical minerals for a clean energy transition will remain significantly intensive for a long time", Adegbite said.  

He said electric vehicles and battery storage would account for about half of the energy minerals demand over the next two decades, spurred by the increasing demand for battery materials.  

Adegbite said battery storage minerals primarily comprise copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, platinum group minerals, and to a lesser extent, aluminum, chromium, graphite, manganese, rare earth elements and Zinc.  

He said mineral demand from electric vehicles and battery storage is predicted to grow 10 to 30 times by 2040.  

“Nigeria is richly endowed with critical minerals. Lithium and tantalite are found in parts of the extensive pegmatite belts of Nigeria,” he said.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mine, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Sen. Tanko Almakura, said the future of Nigerian extractive industry is predicted to be heavily skewed towards solid mineral. 

Tony Nwakalor, the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), SoundCore Group, said the mining sector remained a veritable avenue for the country to wean itself off crude oil.

He claimed that the industry also offers a steady source of employment for the large population of unemployed youth, who may hone their talents both formally and informally.

Nwakalor predicted that the summit would act as a catalyst for the country's mineral and mining revolution.