Abuja, Nov.28, 2022 – Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development Minister, says the federal government has banned the export of raw gold, gemstones and other solid minerals.
He said on Sunday that the decision followed the approval of a Down Stream Mineral Policy by the government.
Adegbite said that the policy would help to avert mistakes made in the oil and gas sector and help to add value to mineral deposits before exporting.
“If you mine and you cannot process it yourself, you can sell it off to processors in Nigeria.
“These processors would either buy it off you totally or process and resell or they can process and return it to you.
“That is the policy in Nigeria now because we do not want to lose jobs or wealth to other countries.”
The minister said he noticed, on assumption of office in 2019, that the mining sector was beginning to make the mistakes of the oil and gas sector.
“You know what we do in the oil and gas sector. We export crude oil and import petroleum into the country, by that, we export all our jobs.
“I said we cannot make the same mistake with mining, so I started very early in 2019 to develop a policy called ‘Down Stream Mineral Policy.’”
He described the Federal Executive Council’s approval of the policy as a milestone for the sector, saying it would go a long way in repositioning it.
Adegbite expressed optimism that the Kano Gold Souk and other regional projects being executed by the ministry will become operational by 2023.
Adegbite said the souk would make the country a world destination for gold, adding that Nigeria had trained professionals in the area.
“In Kano, our gold is being taken out of Nigeria to places like Dubai and others where they turn them into jewellery. (GBN)
