Minister of Mines and Steel Development Mr Olamilekan Adegbite has stressed the need for Nigeria to compete with contemporaries in developing the critical minerals value chain to measure up in the mines industry.
Adegbite stated this at a summit organised by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and sponsored by SoundCore Group in Abuja yesterday with the theme: “Leveraging Future Minerals for Sustainable Development.”
Adegbite said that Nigeria could not afford to be left out of the global rush to develop its vast deposits of mineral resources.
He added that the administration had taken fundamental steps to salvage the low electricity generation by diversifying the country’s energy mix towards renewable alternatives.
Adegbite said that many nations were aggressively initiating policies and strategic models to ensure the accelerated development of critical energy minerals.
He said that the US Senate in July passed an Act with incentives for developing critical minerals, adding that Australia was also considering investment packages to stimulate exploration.
This he said also includes mining, and processing of these minerals, adding that China had stepped up imports from developing nations to bolster critical minerals stockpiles.
According to him, the growing demand for critical minerals is propelled by the urgent need to secure a low-carbon future.
“Countries are increasingly relying on rare earth elements and critical minerals to support their climate commitments,” he said.
Adegbite said the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change emphasised the need to decline the use of non-renewable components in energy generation.
He said renewable sources of energy provide an alternative to the energy transition economy.
He said “The consequence of this major shift is a high demand for critical minerals for use in climate-friendly technologies.
The minister said electric vehicles and battery storage would account for about half of the energy minerals demand over the next two decades, spurred by the increasing demand for battery materials.
Adegbite said battery storage minerals primarily comprise copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, platinum group minerals, and to a lesser extent, aluminum, chromium, graphite, manganese, rare earth elements, and zinc.
A former governor of Nasarawa State Senator Tanko Al-Makura said that the future of the Nigerian extractive industry was predicted to be heavily skewed towards solid minerals.
He added that the 9th Senate was concerned that it was the right step in the right direction, while commending the organiser with a promise to support the Ministry.
The chief executive officer, SoundCore Group, Mr Tony Nwakalor, said the mining sector remained a veritable avenue for the country to wean itself off crude oil and it also provides a source for the needed foreign exchange earnings.
He said the sector also provided a reliable source of employment for teeming unemployed youth who could develop their skills formally and informally to become employable in the upstream or downstream segment of the mining sector.
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