By Sami Tunji
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has said that the informal trading of unprocessed gold is driving capital flight and job losses in the country.
This was according to a statement signed by the ministry’s Head of the Press Department, Mrs Funmi Imuetinyan.
The statement revealed that the minister commissioned the Gold Processing Plant in Mopa, Mopa- Muro Local Government Area of Kogi State, north-central Nigeria on Tuesday.
During the commissioning, the minister said, “With the location of the gold processing plant in Mopa, artisanal and small-scale gold operators within the Schist Belt states can easily have access to the plant for their gold processing and refining.
“The informal trading of unprocessed gold leads to capital flights and job losses. It is in a bid to develop the downstream sector mining industry to improve product pricing, create jobs, improve revenue generation and attract foreign markets to Nigeria.”
According to the statement, the minister explained that the Nigeria Schist Belt is known to host rich deposits of gold, and the location of the gold processing plant in Mopa will ensure that Artisanal and Small-scale gold operators within the Schist Belt States can easily have access to the plant for their gold processing and refining activities respectively.
The minister also noted that the facility houses state-of-the-art gold processing machinery and equipment, over 30 stalls, an administrative block, a training section, an MMSD office, stable power supply, among others.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Oluwatoyin Akinlade, said the conceptualization of the project was a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She noted that instead of dishing out cash or other material gifts to the people to cushion the effects of the pandemic, the Ministry embarked on a more strategic people-oriented project that is sustainable and economically viable to trigger capacity development, jobs, and wealth creation.
Source: The Punch