By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata
The Federal Government has inaugurated a high-purity gold refinery in Lagos and is set to commission a $600 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State, as part of efforts to boost local mineral processing and value addition. Three more gold refineries are also under development across the country.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, described the projects as key outcomes of Nigeria’s value-addition policy, aimed at positioning the country as Africa’s leading minerals hub and a strategic supplier of critical minerals for the global energy transition.
Alake spoke on Tuesday during a meeting with Saudi Arabian Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Al-Khorayef, ahead of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. The discussion focused on deepening bilateral cooperation in mineral development, technology transfer, capacity building, and sustainable mining practices.
The minister highlighted that the new facilities reflect Nigeria’s commitment to stop exporting raw minerals and instead process them locally. He added that a joint Nigeria-Saudi working group had been reviewing priority areas such as mineral traceability, ESG compliance, and mine remediation, with a possible MoU expected from the forum.
Al-Khorayef praised Nigeria’s mining potential and encouraged the country to showcase investment opportunities to Saudi investors, noting the benefits of adopting advanced mining technologies.
Nigeria’s recent reforms aim to curb illegal mining, strengthen regulation, and attract investment, with lithium, gold, and other critical minerals seen as central to economic diversification and global clean-energy supply chains.
