Nasarawa secures gold, tin, lithium mining licences

The Nasarawa State Government has disclosed that it has obtained licences to mine gold, tin and lithium in the state.

Governor Abdullahi Sule, who made the disclosure during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, said the venture would be run through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) due to the inefficiency of government establishments in managing business.

In a statement the Special Assistant on Media to Alake, Segun Tomori, stated that the governor, who did not state when the licences were obtained, said, “I want to show great appreciation to the honourable minister, because recently, Nasarawa State obtained three licences. One is an area where there is a possibility of gold deposit, another area where there is lithium deposit, and the third site where there is tin deposit. I come from the private sector, and I understand how the public sector doesn’t become so efficient in the management of this kind of venture. So, we have PPP arrangements. Which implies we are going to have partners, and we have some level of equity participation that will ensure the state gets maximum benefits.”

The governor lauded the minister for leading the charge for the resurgence of the mining sector, noting that his visit was to brief his host on the ongoing construction of a gigantic lithium factory and also compare notes on what the ministry was doing to secure mining sites and develop the mining sector in the country.

Speaking, Alake noted that the governor had been very supportive of the solid minerals sector not because his state was a solid minerals state, but because he was an engineer.