Nigerian govt releases N142.6m to 14 tertiary institutions for mineral research

The Federal Government has released N142.6million to 14 tertiary institutions in the country to conduct research on mineral deposits.

The Minister of Mines and Steel, Olamilekan Adegbite, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ validation workshop on research collaboration with 14 tertiary institutions on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said the sum was shared for the beneficiary institutions for research development in various areas relating to mapping and evaluation of particular mineral deposits.

According to him, the research will be in the areas of Mining Engineering, Metallurgy and Mineral Processing, Geological Mapping, Industrial and Minerals Utilisation/Exports and Energy Minerals.

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The minister said: “You will all agree with me that without data, there can be no serious mining activities. Nigeria lacks adequate bankable Geosciences data needed to attract major mining companies to invest in the sector.”

He stressed that the programme which started in 2018 with 12 institutions was about to be finalised for the benefit of the sector.

Adegbite added: “The institutions that benefited from these research grants were carefully selected by an independent faculty of five erudite professors of proven integrity who contributed to the growth and development of the sector.

“These personalities form the steering committee which on behalf of the ministry, did due diligence of selecting the beneficiaries after careful examination of their proposals.’’

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