The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Abubakar Bawa Bwari, has assured the government and people of Niger State of the ministry’s plan to ensure that the state takes full advantage of the range of opportunities now available for states to develop their solid mineral potentials.
Alhaji Bawa Bwari, who welcomed officials from the state Ministry of Solid Minerals led by the commissioner, Mudi Mohammed, to his office Monday, noted that with the enormous resources of the state in gold, talc, tantalite, gemstones and precious metals, it could easily become one of the richest states in the federation, with the right handling.
He listed the ways in which the state can earn more money to include use of a special purpose vehicle for mining business, entering into partnerships with foreign concerns, taxes from mining, and 13 percent derivation.
Abubakar Bawa noted that the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has opened up the sector tremendously and miners can now access funds not just from the N5 billion Artisanal and Small Scale Support Fund (BoI), the Min Diver (World Bank) Fund, the N30 billion intervention fund but other potential lines of credit that the private sector is beginning to extend to miners.
