The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Musa Sada, said that his ministry had  set up a special  revenue committee on non-oil mineral resources.

Sada, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, said the committee was set up last month with the mandate to harness revenue sources in the non-oil minerals sector.

The minister said that the committee was set up to ensure that proceeds from solid minerals sector were well accounted for and paid into government’s treasury.

Sada said  that the ministry was waiting for the report of the committee and assured that its recommendations would be fully implemented.

On Ajaokuta Steel Company, the minister said that the Federal Government and Global Infrastructure Holding Ltd., the company that claimed it bought the company, were now in the Court of Arbitration.

He said that the Federal Government and officials of the company met in September and would meet again in January 2012.

“This will enable Nigeria present its counter-claims, we have already articulated our position on the issues and hope the matter will be amicably resolved soon,” he said.

Sada said that the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) in Itakpe was another sore point in the nation’s quest for industrialisation.

The minister said that NIOMCO was established to produce raw iron ore for the Ajakokuta Steel Company, but expressed regret that the  project ran into several problems.

He said that the Federal Government was doing all it could to revamp the NIOMCO and the Ajaokuta Steel Mill.