By Chris OCHAYI & Gabriel EWEPU

ABUJA: The solid minerals sector plays host to a whole lot of mining activities relating to exploration and extraction of mineral deposits by companies across the country. The solid mineral resources are on the exclusive list of the nation’s constitution, and therefore are solely under the control of the federal government.

The solid minerals deposit across the country makes it to be among one of the largest in the globe. These minerals and metals have been found to occur in over 500 locations in different parts of the country. It is intimidating and amazing to state that these precious minerals and metals are in commercial quantity.

There are 44 heavily endowed minerals and metals such as barites, coal, gold, bitumen, gemstone, uranite, manganese, tantalite, columbite, iron ore, gypsum, kaolin, tale, diatomite, silica sand, bentonite. Others are limestone, mica, phosphate rock, clay, marble, magnetite, feldspar, kyanite, fluorite, rutile, wolframite, bismuth, argentite, molybdenite, galena, sphalerite, vanadinite, and a host of others.

Some of them are of high global demand, sallimanite is for the production of refactories and spark plugs, chromite, cobaltite, vanadinitew stibnite are sources of elements essential for alloy steel production, while chalcopyrite (copper), lanthanum, pentlandite (platinum) are specialty minerals with high global demand, and uraninite (uranium) serves as an energy mineral.

Given the large deposit of brown coal in the tertiary sediments in the east and west of River Niger, Nigeria can cash in on foreign investors’ technology to produce coal pellets for industrial use, coal briquettes for domestic use; that is, to replace firewood.

The Mines and Steel sector is one major economic giants that has remained under explored and developed for rapid socio-economic transformation.

Looking at the huge investment in the establishment of the Ajaokuta Steel Company in 1979, as an integrated steel plant based on blast furnace/oxygen furnace route of steel production, was designed to produce 1 million tonnes of liquid steel per annum in the first phase, with in-built facility to expand to 2.6 million tonnes in the second phase and 5.2 million tonness in the third phase respectively.

Steel sector

The steel sub-sector has been bedeviled by lack of facilitating infrastructure; the Aluminum Smelting Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, has an installed capacity of 193, 000 tons of primary aluminum products per annum. It is the only company producing primary aluminum in the country. If fully operated it could trigger a chain of multiplier effect in the aluminum industry.

On the Delta Steel Company, DSC, it was designed and built as a turnkey project with a capacity to produce 1 million tonnes per annum of liquid steel. It was commissioned in 1982, it only produced at a capacity of 25 per cent in 1985, currently production has declined progressively. Until 1996 the plant was shut down due to non-availability of funds.

Despite its privatization in 2005 by the Obasanjo administration, the company is virtually grounded as a result of non-availability of raw materials, poor power supply, non-payment of staff and accumulated indebtedness.

Some other problems in the steel industry includes weak enabling environment characterized by frequent contractual disputes with foreign investors and high level of political interference.

Lack of adequate legislation and a legal framework for the metallurgical industry, as guidelines for general operations, and also monitoring of the operators in the metal sub-sector have been a major drawback in the industry since independence in 1960.

Access to capital is another challenge in the sector as there is lack of local capital market to finance mineral base activities for improved value addition.

Non-completion and underdevelopment of required infrastructure like roads, rails, ports, power, and others.

Politicization of the sector had undermined the national interest in the developing and taking the steel sector to an enviable height.

New development roadmap

In 2012, the Jonathan’s administration came up with a roadmap that would reposition the mines and steel sector. This was championed by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, and led by its minister, Mr. Musa Mohammed Sada.

He said: “The roadmap for solid mineral development which was evolved and highly applauded by the Federal government and stakeholders will boost a lot of mining activities in the nation’s minerals and metals sector.” This statement was made during the visit of some Canadian investors in mines and steel to the ministry, led by the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Chris Cooter.

The Minister said that with the roadmap for solid mineral development, the country will experience lots of activities in the sector, adding that it will engender greater opportunities for local and foreign investors to explore the enormous potentials of Nigeria’s minerals and metals sector.

The irony of these huge natural and mineral endowments is that the desired attention is not adequately given by the government to its maximal harnessing and utilization as other countries does.

This makes it imperative to reassess the development of the sector once again as the nation commemorates her 53rd independence anniversary.

1960 is a long time and a lot of water has passed under the bridge in the mines and steel sector of the economy. Taking an overview of this strategic sector from 1960 to date the sector has remained in the back burner of past administrations as a result of the oil boom in the mid 1960s and to the detriment of the sector.

The policies in the steel sector had suffered neglect following poor political will to implement them and make the sector a vibrant one that would attract huge direct foreign investment.

Diversification of the productive base of the economy, particularly this money spinning sector, should be looked into and given all the development and enabling environment for it to be a major player in the overall development of the country, and be made a cardinal export-based sector of the economy and foreign exchange earner for the country.

Also considering the fact that, the potentials in the mines and steel sector abound, especially job creation for the teeming army of unemployed youths.?

Minerals deposits

Talc

An estimated reserve of over 100 million tons of talc has been obtained in Niger, Osun, Kogi, Kwara, Ogun, Taraba and Kaduna States. There are only two medium size talc processing plants currently operating in Nigeria and both are located in Niger State. The color of the Nigerian talc varies from white through milky-white to gray. The talc industry represents one of the most versatile sectors of the industrial minerals of the world.

Iron ore

There are over three billion tons of iron ore found in Kogi, Enugu, Niger, Zamfara and Kaduna States.