Adegbite Harps On Benefits Of Airborne Survey In Nigeria

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Thursday, September 2nd, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Nigeria’s Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite has assured Nigerians that the conduct of the next Airborne Geophysical Survey will be very beneficial to the country.

The minister gave the assurance on Thursday, when he inspected the two aircrafts at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, which have been earmarked to be used for Airborne Geophysical Survey activities.

Adegbite said the benefits derivable from the survey transcend the mining sector into other spheres of the Nigerian economy. He added that it is critical to de-risking the mining sector, thus making it attractive to both local and foreign investors.

The survey is meant to determine the accurate mineral locations using modern day contemporary magnetic and radiometric methods.

In addition, it is a survey of high resolution expected to return more details and information on the discovery of several minerals due to improvement in technology and advancement in knowledge. The survey is conducted by the Ministry of Mines and Steels Development, through the Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification (MINDIVER) project, a World Bank assisted initiative under the purview of the ministry. Moreover, it will be measuring minor variations in the earth’s magnetic fields and gamma radiations in the soil.

The survey is also a passive technique that does not involve sending out any signals or sound and therefore remains a very safe aerial survey. He also noted that the development would ultimately lead to more job creations and increased revenue for government.

“The data gleaned from this survey will make our mining sector more attractive thus spurring both foreign and local businessmen to invest in the sector, which would create jobs, increase government revenue and spur infrastructural development.

“The country as a whole would benefit immensely from the data we are generating as geological information is useful for decision-making in a wide range of activities such as the construction of infrastructure projects, the development, sustainable use and protection of groundwater and environmental impact assessments amongst other uses”, he said.

In the course of conducting the survey, which will cover 173,000km2, acquiring some 1,360,000km line-km of geophysics data acquisition on survey lines spaced 150m apart, aircraft would be flown over regions in the north-western, western, and eastern Nigeria that display the highest potential for locating economic mineral deposits.

Adegbite, therefore advised the general public in the States and Local Governments that would be covered by this survey not to panic either as a result of the loud noise of the aircraft due to the low flying altitude maintained by the aircraft or the pattern of movement of the aircraft. “I can assure you that the planes would be flown by experienced pilot and there is actually nothing to be afraid of. The flights are planned and there is nothing to be afraid of”, he added.

The survey is similar to the previous ones that took place between 2003 – 2007 and 2009– 2011 which was conducted over the entire country but remained largely unnoticed by most Nigerians. The Project Co-coordinator of MINDIVER, Engr. Salim Salaam said the current survey would cover 19 States of the federation covering 112 Local Government Areas in order to determine accurate mineral locations using modern day contemporary aeromagnetic mechanism, adding that the country had a lot to benefit from the survey.

“We need to have this data to be able to attract investors into the country and once this investment comes, it would create jobs and increase government revenue”, he stressed.