…gives hope for sustainable economic diversification

By Gabriel Ewepu

The World Bank-assisted Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification Project (MinDiver) has designed a roadmap for the development of industrial minerals in Nigeria. The roadmap has identified strategic pathways to guide the accelerated development of prioritised industrial minerals.

In a detailed document signed by the Project Coordinator, MinDiver, Engr Sallim Salaam, stated that this activity is a key component of the project conceived to implement an integrated programme that would enhance the upstream development of industrial minerals along with the critical process of value addition at the downstream stage.

According to the document, the strategy adopted by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development aligns with the Africa mining vision policy framework created by the union in 2009 to ensure that Africa utilises its mineral resources strategically for broad-based, inclusive development; which is Africa’s response to tackling the paradox of great mineral wealth alongside pervasive poverty.

The document stated that Nigeria’s drive to diversify its economy by leveraging on the high potential of natural resources is a priority programme of the federal government.

Indeed, the success of the African Union’s sustainable development vision is predicted on the proper utilisation of the natural resource endowment of the nations on the continent, particularly industrial minerals commonly used as raw materials in industries.

The move by MinDiver is hinged on Nigeria rich endowment with over 30 industrial mineral types found in about 752 locations. These findings according to the document are at different stages of development, from exploration to mining. Key participants in the industrial minerals sub-sector are artisanal and small-scale operators who exploit feldspar, trona, kaolin, talc, silica sand and dolomite for the chemical polymer and pharmaceutical industries.

Others are quarry operators that mine and process granites, limestone, and marble as aggregates for the construction industry, cement, and lime production. Also included are barite and mica for mud drilling in the oil industry and phosphates for fertiliser production and soil liming.

It said generally, the local production of industrial minerals has steadily grown from 43,725,070 tonnes in 2016 to 78 454,628 tonnes in 2021. Even at this level of progress, Nigeria currently imports over 80% of its industrial minerals for the local industries. The Federal Government is determined to develop the available industrial minerals to stimulate industrial growth further and for import substitution.

One of the primary goals of the new roadmap is to create and implement a strategy to promote the domestic supply of mineral raw materials for local industries.

It noted that the most relevant industrial minerals identified in the roadmap as being exploited in Nigeria are minerals used in the construction industry: limestone, laterite, sand, clay, shale, dolomite, marble and granite.

A second relevant group includes minerals used by industrial chains such as calcium carbonate and lime for water treatment, manganese and dolomite for steel making and iron cast. Others are kaolin and feldspar for the ceramics industry, and mica for the electrical and painting industries.

Nigeria is highly dependent on Imports of some industrial minerals. For example, the roadmap identified that Nigeria in 2016 imported more than 51,000 tonnes of calcium carbonate and lime, alongside substantial imports of these minerals exceeded 28 million USD60 per cent of industrial minerals.

It further noted that alongside the construction and water treatment sectors, the industrial minerals imported are used in steel, oil and gas and a wide range of other industries. Also contained in the document is that Nigeria has a mineral endowment appropriated to meet the domestic demand for industrial minerals in volume and quality, and the roadmap aims to reduce Nigeria’s import dependence on industrial minerals.

The roadmap also identified that the following market factors leverage the outlook of the industrial minerals sector in Nigeria:

Nigeria has a high population growth rate. The UN estimates point to 450 million people by 2050, and the need for housing, road and bridge construction is expanding fast.

Nigeria’s building and construction industry has had rapid and steady growth over the past two decades, and it has one of the highest rates of expansion among all the sectors of the Nigerian economy;

Nigeria’s cement sector is sophisticated, with many cement factories having fully integrated quarry-to-depot operations. As a result, the factories can distribute cement and related products across the African continent.

Nigerian oil-and-gas entrepreneurs are now responsible for 18.9 per cent of the oil production to integrate more local content into oil and gas exploitation; and that the Nigerian steel sector is being revitalised.

The existing extraction of industrial minerals is made by Nigerian entrepreneurs and generally does not require substantial capital investments.

According to Engr. Sallim Salaam, three strategic pathways were identified to guide the implementation of the roadmap for the development of industrial minerals to achieve the vision of the Federal Government for the Nigerian mining industry; promote the provision of construction minerals needed to meet the growing demand of the construction industry; promote the provision of industrial minerals used in industrial sectors considered critical to Nigeria’s economy; and maximise the potential of world-class recognised deposits of industrial minerals by creating conditions to enable them to compete in quality and cost with global peers.

He said the first pathway addresses the needs of the construction industry, which includes providing housing and transport infrastructure with the second pathway aimed to provide industrial minerals to sectors considered vital to the Nigerian industry, like the oil and gas industry, the steel industry, the water treatment industry, and agriculture which consumes phosphates and carbonates.

He said the third pathway aims to maximise the wealth created by the sustainable mining of first-class mineral deposits, for example, kaolin and mica, which requires low investment efforts to create value-added products fitting the global market’s needs.

He noted that the first and second pathways benefit from the existence of a large and fast expanding domestic market, strengthening the prospects of a successful implementation of the roadmap.

The Project Coordinator further stated that an action plan with the roadmap includes 19 actions selected because of their impact, favourable social acceptance and cost – effectiveness. The description of each action includes the minimum time frame necessary to obtain measurable results, alongside the level of social acceptance, number and diversity of stakeholders involved in the implementation, estimated cost and the expected benefit according to the preliminary evaluation.

The description also included a summary of the action, the expected outcomes, the synergies with other activities, the critical factors for success, the responsibility for implementation and the key performance indicators that should be used to measure results.

He said to achieve results, implementation agendas which identifies cross – cutting synergies between actions was used to group actions covering similar subjects or having similar goals in the following six portfolios: which include Provision of skills; Law enforcement and governance, Social acceptance of mining, Infrastructure, Access to funds, Resource efficiency and best practice.

The six implementation agendas would ensure a coherent and integrated ecosystem approach, helping to move industrial minerals initiatives away from peace-meal, silo project. The implementation agendas and their corresponding five-step implementation plans and timeline are graphically represented in Annex 1.

According to him, the roadmap also included three flagship initiatives to achieve transformative results in the industrial minerals sector and to further deepen the linkages with the three strategic pathways that steer the sector development: in the area of Flagship Initiative, Calcium Carbonate; Flagship initiative, Dimension Stones; Flagship initiative, Mica Kaolin and Barite.

He said the flagship initiatives bring together the different cooperation agendas and actions, sharing a unifying goal and an ambitious implementation schedule that will boost the overall implementation of the roadmap.

He noted that the flagship initiative, Dimension Stones, aims to foster the domestic production of calcium carbonate is mainly used in water treatment, and the value of its imports represents more than 25 per cent of the total cost of imports of industrial minerals to Nigeria.

Considering the population growth, coupled with the rapid urbanization of Nigeria, he said safe drinking water system are essential to underpin the health and security of cities, protect economies and ecosystems and minimize the risk of pandemics. In this context, providing calcium carbonate for water treatment is crucial, and this flagship was recommended to be implemented immediately.

The flagship initiative, dimension stones, according to him aims to foster the domestic production of marble and granite, responding to the growing domestic demand and replacing more than 12.5 per cent of the total value of imports of industrial materials. Furthermore, the production of dimension stones with such value-added products as floor and wall tiles and kitchen worktops will profitably engage specialised artisans and master craftsmen in the design, production and installation stages.

The document further said the flagship initiative, mica, kaolin and barite, aims to stimulate the exploration and detailed characterisation of the deposits of these three minerals, widely used with industrial chains and with export potential.

The document stated that the estimated cost for implementing the actions described in the roadmap is 123.5 USD, to be spent over five years. The direct economic benefit obtained from the substitution of mineral imports covers these costs. In addition, if other factors such as the creation of jobs, the development of skill and poverty alleviation are considered, the benefits of the implementation of the roadmap are boosted since they encompass economic, social and environmental dimensions, in line with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.