Nigeria is poised to produce 4,000 tonnes of lithium per day, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, said on Monday in Abuja.
Declaring open a two-day roundtable on Sustainable Development of Nigeria’s Mining Sector, Shettima said President Bola Tinubu would soon inaugurate Nigeria`s largest lithium factory capable of processing 4,000 metric tonnes of lithium per day.
He noted that the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr
Dele Alake, performed a ground-breaking ceremony for the Lithium factory in
Nasarawa in 2023 to produce 18,000 metric tonnes of lithium per day.
Shettima said that more lithium sites were being discovered
across the country.
Lithium is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. It is the
least dense solid element and is a critical solid mineral in the global energy
transition.
It is currently mined in Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, Ekiti and
Cross River states.
The vice-president commended Alake for the reforms he had
brought to the solid minerals sector, particularly his plan to sanitise and
reposition the sector to boost Nigeria’s economic profile.
He also commended the minister for making the sector public
and private sectors-driven, adding that the approach would open up the sector
for opportunities and fast-track its development.
Shettima was represented at the roundtable by Nasarawa’s
Gov. Abdullahi Sule.
Speaking at the event, Alake said the ministry’s seven-point
agenda was in line with President Tinubu’s commitment to diversify Nigeria’s
economy.
He said that one of the ministry’s critical seven-point
agenda was the emphasis placed on local value addition through policies that
promoted the processing of raw minerals because of the economic multiplier
effects.
He thanked the National Institute for Policy and Strategic
Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, near Jos, for organising the summit.
Alake said the development of the solid minerals sector
required collective responsibility by all stakeholders to make it a key
contributor to the national economy.
He noted that the roundtable would enrich the analysis of
the sector and its recommendations would guide the Executive arm of government
in decision-making. NAN
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