We ‘re Looking At Exporting Barite To Other African Countries – Minister

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Nigeria’s Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite has said that the West African nation is currently looking towards exporting barite to some African countries.

Barite is a non-metallic mineral which is simply barium sulfate (BaSQ4) and is largely used by the oil and gas industry as a weighting agent in drilling mud during drilling operations.

Industry sources say Nigeria has the largest known deposit of barite in Africa and barite deposits can be found in nine states across the country, namely, Adamawa, Gombe, Zamfara. Plateau, Cross River, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Ebonyi.

The minister disclosed this when the Belgian ambassador to Nigeria, Daniel Bertrand paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry.

Adegbite said the Ministry’s recent achievement in the area of local barite production that met the American Petroleum Institute standard would save the country millions of dollars spent on importing barite.

“Last year we launched the Nigerian barite to show that we can now produce barite that meets the API standard in our country.

This will save us millions of dollars spent on importing barite every year, which would also create jobs and lead to skills specialization in some specific fields. We are also looking at the possibilities of eventually exporting barite to other African countries which would earn our country revenue”, he said.

Meanwhile, a document from the Raw Materials Research and Development Council has shown that Nigeria currently has a reserve estimate of 21,123,919 MT of barite.

Similarly, the Association of Barite Miners and Processors of Bentonite in Nigeria says the quality of Barite in Nigeria has been proven to be the best because international agencies have ascertained to that.

He also noted that the Ministry was creating a viable gold ecosystem in the country, opening up areas for foreign investors to take up stakes in the gold subsector, adding that a Canadian company Thor Exploration had started producing gold in commercial quantities through the Segilola Gold Project in Osun state.

“Nigeria has a lot of gold and we are developing the sector to attract investment into it. Nigeria is not just about oil and gas. We are richly endowed with diverse mineral assets in varying mixes and proven reserves.

“As we pursue our growth innovations through continued exploration, more mineral types and finds are being discovered. We can confirm that every zone in Nigeria has some minerals to bring to the national table of resource riches. As of today about 44 minerals have been identified”, he added.

He further stated that the Ministry was opened to collaborating with Belgium to further develop the mining sector of the Nigerian economy, noting that the Ministry was making the sector more vibrant by fulfilling its mandate to diversify the economy away from oil, to create jobs and to raise the revenue profile of the government.

The minister also informed the envoy about the mining-related clusters in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, adding that these activities will boost the productivity of artisanal and small scale mining, generate wealth and create employment opportunities for the youths.

“The programme is financed by the Federal Government under the COVID -19 Stimulus Programme. The programme comprises of the set-up of a Gold Souk (market) in Kano to encourage import substitution, Gemstone Marketing and Processing Center in Ibadan, Gold Processing Center in Mopa-Muro in Kogi State, Barite Processing Center in Ogoja, Kaoline Processing Facility in Bauchi and the Lead Zinc Processing Center in Abakaliki”, he further explained.

Adegbite also disclosed that the Ministry had instituted some business-friendly incentives and policy in the sector to make it more attractive to foreign investors.

“Some of the incentives we have instituted to make the sector more attractive to investors include Customs and import duties waiver for plant, machinery and equipment imported for mining operations. Tax holidays of between three to five years as applicable.

“Free transferability of funds and permission to retain and use earned foreign exchange. Capital allowances of up to 95 percent of qualifying capital expenditure.

Deductibility of Environmental Costs (money meant for environmental remediation will be tax free). 100 percent ownership of mineral properties”, he stressed.

In his response, Ambassador Bertrand expressed his country’s interest in the sector. He said: “I am just looking to see if there is any possibility of cooperation between both countries as your sector is concerned”.