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The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite, yesterday, expressed confidence that the commissioning of Kaolin Ore Processing Plant Alkaleri, Gwaram Local Government of Bauchi State, marks the end of the export of raw commodities.
Adegbite said this while commissioning the plant, where he stressed that the newly built and commissioned facility will attract investors and make Nigeria a major exporter of the commodity.
He also said investors will have value for their money including artisanal and small-scale miners will create more wealth from the Kaolin business.
He added that the completion and commissioning of the project show the Buhari-led administration’s commitment to diversifying the economy through the nation’s solid minerals sector, and said the plant will serve the miners’ cluster in the area and beyond.
However, the Minister called for critical stakeholders’ involvement in the proper utilisation of the versed mineral potentials in Nigeria, in order to generate massive direct and indirect employment opportunities for wealth creation and improved national Gross Domestic Product, GDP.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, expressed delight at the commissioning of the industrial plant.
Akinlade said the potential of the plant is enormous and would immensely contribute to economic growth and development.
She also assured that the Ministry will continue to support the development of the sector towards national growth.
She noted that the project and five others, respectively, established in each Geopolitical Zone of the country were anchored on the Governments determination to remedy the impact of the recent global pandemic on the economy generally and in the Minerals and Metals Sector in particular.
In a goodwill message, the Acting National President, of the Miners Association of Nigeria, MAN, Musa Muhammed, who was represented by the National Treasurer of the Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO), Bello Galoji, commended the cluster development project and the efforts of the Ministry under the current leadership in developing the downstream value chain of the Solid Mineral Sector to fast track the economic agenda of the present Administration.
Muhammed said the plant would be maintained and sustained based on the over 20 documented Kaolin mining sites in Alkaleri and Kirfi Local Government Areas with over eight companies having titles to operate.
According to him, Bauchi State has over 20 Small and Medium Kaolin milling plants registered under Bauchi Kaolin Millers Cooperative Society, which are ever ready to collaborate with this monumental project.
Vanguard
