The Federal Government has secured $150 million loan from the World Bank to develop the mining sector of the country.
The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Abubakar Bawa Bwari, while speaking at a programme organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos said the ministry has undertaken far reaching re- forms and developed strategies to fulfil its mandate, having been identified as a sector to facilitate the Federal Government’s diversification efforts and source of additional revenue.
He said these seven strategic minerals (gold, iron ore, coal, lead/zinc, bitumen, limestone and barytes ) are receiving focused attention, which looks at their development through their various value chains to achieve specific national goal. “An example of this initiative is the iron ore value chain activities through the backward integration initiative.
According to him, the revenue generation also improved from N2.08 billion in 2015 to N3.92 billion in 2017 and N2.97 billion as at October 2018.
He added: “The Mining Cadastral Office recorded limestone as highest royalty payments of N5.2 billion through processing fees and other licensing fees.
