FG To Toughen Licensing Rules For Foreign Mining Companies

The Federal Government on Tuesday unveiled plans to toughen licensing rules for foreign mining companies in the country.

The move, according to the government, is to push them to boost processing and refining of metals like lithium and zinc within the country.

The Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dele Alake, disclosed this on Tuesday during the Nigeria Mining Week event in Abuja.

He said this just a week after announcing the implementation of waivers as an incentive for future investors in the mining sector of the economy.

Alake also said that international mining companies seeking licenses to operate in Nigeria will be required to invest in domestic processing.

The criteria according to Alake “will require mining companies to show plans for value addition before granted licenses” while adding that it will boost the sector, provide employment, and generate revenue for the economy.

He said, “Nigeria is toughening up licensing rules for foreign mining companies to push them to boost processing and refining of metals like lithium and zinc within the country.”

He referenced the ongoing Ganfeng Lithium Industry Ltd, a Chinese company building a lithium processing plant in the central Nasarawa state, which is expected to process approximately 18,000 tons of lithium ore daily to produce batteries designed for electric vehicles.

“I am glad to mention that such an initiative is already on stream as some companies have already commenced operations in Nigeria,” Alake noted.

Speaking further the minister said, “The mining industry is being modernized, and the government is investing in data collection, spending more than N15 billion over seven years to generate mineral data through a National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP)”.