FG, US partner on Nigeria’s mining devt

The Federal Government of Nigeria and the government of the United States are exploring areas of strategic partnership on mining development.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake described the United States as Nigeria’s longstanding ally and strategic partner for the nation’s mining sector development.

Alake said this yesterday in Abuja while receiving Charge d’Affairs, US Embassy, David Greene in his office.

Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Segun Tomori made this known in a statement.

He said Alake lauded the United States’ commitment to fostering cooperation with Nigeria in diverse sectors of the economy, stating that it underscores the significance of the smooth bilateral relations between both countries.

He added, “I thank you for your visit. I met the US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, Geoffrey Pyatt, on the sidelines of the Mines and Money Conference in London past year, and we had a fruitful engagement. I did analyse all our issues, and fundamentally, we just want to diversify our economy from oil.

“Not just for our own economic survival but also to be in tune with global trends for reduction in global warming. We also want to be part of the move to reduce global emissions and put our mining sector on the global map. We have critical minerals that are in commercial demand globally,” Alake said.

He added, “The Minister welcomed partnership with the US on investments in the mining value chain, expanding access to technology in extracting and processing minerals and securing mining areas.

“In his remarks, the US Ambassador, Greene commended the renewed interest of Nigeria in solid minerals, stressing that the sector has huge potentials to rival the contribution of oil to the nation’s economy.

” Nigeria and US have had decades of cultural ties, cooperation in security agriculture amongst others. Your mining sector has huge potentials and we are interested in collaborating to invest in extracting and processing of minerals alongside providing training and knowledge transfer to the security agencies to assist in securing your mining environment, “Greene asserted.