The Nigerian-Canadian company, mining gold in Nigeria’s Osun State looks set to commence the exportation of gold in June this year.
This is seen as part of the government’s effort towards the diversification of Nigeria’s economy to create employment and earn more foreign exchange in addition to exploiting the country’s potential in the mining sector.
This disclosure was made by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, in Abuja on Sunday, while speaking at a forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in which he described the Segilola Gold Project as a strategic investment for Nigeria’s economic diversification.
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The minister described the company as a poster child and the first foreign investor that was doing genuine and serious business in Nigeria.
Adegbite revealed that the firm was supposed to have started gold exportation in the first quarter of 2021 but that the date was shifted, due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
What the Minister of Mines and Steel is saying
Adegbite stated, “The company will start exporting gold from Nigeria in June.’’
He said that the project is being executed by Segilola Resource Operating Ltd., a licensed operator and Canadian company, located in Iperindo in Osun.
He disclosed that the company which was listed and quoted on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada, the eighth largest exchange in the world by market capitalisation, commanding some 3.1 trillion dollars, is trying to ensure compliance with the economic diversification agenda of the Federal Government.
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The minister said, “Mining is a bit capital intensive. So, we need to attract serious players, people who can put in the money and then, of course, begin to make money after some investment because it has a gestation period.
“Mining is not like trading where you put in your money today and then realise profit tomorrow. When you do exploration, it can take a year to three years, then you discover the mineral and then start the exploitation before money begins to roll in.”
What you should know
- It can be recalled that in August 2020, Adegbite had announced that Nigeria was set to commence gold production with the launch of the Segilola Gold Project in Osun State.
- The take-off of the project would make Nigeria a major gold producing country and hasten the diversification of the economy and reduction of unemployment.
- This is also coming after President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the first batch of the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative gold, which is expected to be part of Nigeria’s external reserve after being purchased by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
- According to proven surveys, Nigeria has discovered large quantities of gold in Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, Osun, Kwara, and the FCT.
Nigeria, is doing the right thing. Oil production is going to be a thing of the pass because green energy will be the future. My hope is that the government of the day will do a better job of managing Gold mining than they did with oil production….Nigeria have too much brain power to be in the position it find it self these days.
That’s a good one coming on the heels of the strong quest for cleaner energy. One day the oil market will ceased to be what it is and that’s why the need for diversification in our economy is imperative.
Hopefully this will have a positive impact in the lives of the majority of Nigerian masses wallowing in abject poverty, while a few share the monumental wealth amongst themselves
Why didn’t they build the company here in Nigeria to create job,why go foreign ???? This is just pet talk and stupid
I really appreciate this,thanks to God almighty,i think the company should be here in nigeria,my opinion.
Really sad the government of Nigeria and its advisers are blind to the realities of a progressive and proactive nature of successful nations of the world.
Nigeria should look at itself in the mirror and ask fundamental questions as to its state of existence now and where it sees itself in the next 50 years.
It should be brave to admit it is corrupt, desperate but most unfortunately, iconfused.
It should accept that most of those in politics and in leadership have no business being there.
Nigeria is more or less experiencing a natural disaster kind of experience and as such require the best minds to rescue it and restore it.
The leadership of Nigeria has completely forgotten its people but unfortunately remembers other peoples of the world.
It has forgotten that it’s first gift was Nigerians and not minerals.
As the old adage goes “one who ignores health and focuses on wealth building only builds for others.
It is high time for her to embrace reality and accept the fact that only her children in the diaspora hold the key to her regeneration and future success.
All it has to do is create a safe environment for them to come back home and invest in these sectors rather than throw it away to these nations who are smart with business and are only interested in raw materials and profits.
We can internally invest in these sectors like Dangote is doing with the oil refinery to produce finished gold for sale to the rest of the world.