Nigeria produces 153.9m tonnes of minerals in 5 yrs Nigeria produced 153. 90 million tonnes of all manner of minerals across the country from 2009 to 2013, an official has said. Mr Dauda Awojobi, the Acting Director of Mines Inspectorate in the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, disclosed this in Abuja on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Awojobi, who gave a breakdown of the figure, said in 2009 Nigeria produced 18.62 million tonnes, 25.08 million tonnes in 2010 and 23.55 million tonnes in 2011. He said the country produced 36.53 million tonnes and 50.12 million tonnes in 2012 and in 2013, respectively. The director stated that Nigeria recorded an increase in mineral production in 2013 as against a drop in the production level in 2011. “We have significant improvement in 2013; we were able to move from 18.62 million tonnes to 50.12 million tonnes of aggregate production, we have in all class of minerals,’’ Awojobi said. He said over 40 different minerals were extracted within the period under review, saying that some were metallic, non-metallic, gemstones and carbonaceous minerals. Awojobi said the minerals mined included gold, coal, iron ore, clay, limestone, lead/zinc, kaolin, gypsum, baryte, columbite, copper, garnet, manganese, phosphate, talc and tantalite. Others were aquamarine, basalt, coltan, dolorite, domomite, feldspar, granite, laterite, marble, shale, sapphire, talc, tin ore (cassiterite), topaz, quartz, wolframite, tourmaline, zircon, silica sand, among others. He said that Nigeria achieved this feat due to the ministry’s drive to move forward in this direction. The director urged Nigerians to support the Federal Government’s transformation agenda so as to tap potential in solid minerals and agriculture. He said the ministry’s plan in 2014 was to improve on the control of mining operations, mineral production, safety operations and to boost the country’s revenue base
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 15:16:04 +0000