(5 minutes)
· Nigeria is set to become a gold producer by 2021, if things go as scheduled. The launch of the Segilola Gold Project in Osun state is a milestone for the Western African country
· Gold deposits are mostly found in Northern Nigeria, such as near Maru, Anka, Malele, Tsohon Birnin Gwari-Kwaga, Gurmana, Bin Yauri, Okolom-Dogondaji, and Iperindo in Osun state
· The initiative launched under the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Scheme was unveiled by the Buhari himself at a function held on July 16, 2020.
Nigeria is set to become a gold producer by 2021, if things go as scheduled. The launch of the Segilola Gold Project in Osun state is a milestone for the Western African country. Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said that the project was progressing well and will be commissioned in the first half of next year.
The project is expected to create about direct 400 direct jobs and 1000 indirect jobs along the gold value chain. Once the project is operational, it is expected that Nigeria would become a gold producing country and may compensate for the declining gold mining from South Africa. The project is expected to come on stream by first part of the next year. Two gold refineries are also coming up near the mining site. The government has already issued licenses to them and are being set up under the guidance of the London Bullion Market Association.
The gold mining in its wake is expected to catalyze many forward and backward industries of the gold, such as equipment leasing and repairs, logistics and transport, agents and aggregators, insurance etc. The initiative launched under the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Scheme was unveiled by the Buhari himself at a function held on July 16, 2020.
Gold deposits are mostly found in Northern Nigeria, such as near Maru, Anka, Malele, Tsohon Birnin Gwari-Kwaga, Gurmana, Bin Yauri, Okolom-Dogondaji, and Iperindo in Osun state. Though gold production began in 1913 and peaked in the 1930s, during the Second World War, production declined. Mines, which were owned by the colonial powers were abandoned. The Nigerian Mining Corporation (NMC), which is now responsible for undertaking mining came into being in the early 1980s. Analysts say, it is still premature to make an estimate about
the gold deposits in the country.
