Nasarawa State will host the 6th council of mining and mineral resources development meeting slated for September this year.
This was disclosed by the minister of solid minerals, Dele Alake when he paid a courtesy visit ,to Governor Abdullahi Sule at the Government House in Lafia at the weekend.
Alake said the meeting which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in its roadmap for the growth of the mining industry, was designed to achieve stakeholders’ engagement, substantial increase in mining and mineral sectors contributions to the GDP by creating global competitiveness in the sector.
The minister who was represented by the Director General Cadastre Office, Abuja, Mr. Obadiah Nkom, said the choice of Nasarawa as venue of the meeting was because of the commitment and contributions of the state government to the development of the mining sector as demonstrated with the groundbreaking of one the lithium processing plant in Nasarawa Local government area of the state recently.
The minister said the state had become an investors’ destination because of the favourable business environment put in place by Governor Sule.
He disclosed that the state would join the league of four others earning over N1 billion as royalties from the federal government.
The minister also revealed that his office had settled crisis between Nasarawa community and two mining companies.
Governor Abdullahi Sule commended the ministry for the resolution of the lingering conflict between the community and the mining companies.
He promised that the 1.5 cadastre unit area given to the state would be used to develop the host communities and would be done in a transparent way.
He also thanked the federal government for considering the state as host for the national council of mining and mineral resources development meeting, saying the gesture had the potential of attracting more investors to the state.
