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The Ministry of Solid Minerals
Development on Monday confirmed the discovery of Nickel in parts of Kaduna
State in North-West Nigeria.
Permanent Secretary, Mohammed
Abbas, said the ministry had been following up on the report by its technical
experts since the first discovery was made several months ago.
"The Ministry is aware of
the occurrence of the mineral in parts of Kaduna State," the statement
said. "Since the first discovery many months ago, technical experts from
the ministry have been following up on this development as provided by law.
The ministry urged Nigerians to
allow government come up with detailed reports on the new find towards its
development.
The statement confirmed a report
by PREMIUM TIMES that a private mining syndicate had discovered nickel in
Nigeria.
The private mining syndicate
headed by Hugh Morgan, a mining industry veteran, described the discovery as
unusual since it was found in small balls of about three millimeters in
diameter and of a high purity in shallow soils, indicative of the existence of
a larger hard-rock Nickel field in the area.
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The discovery was said to be
around Dangoma, a small farming town about 160 kilometres northeast of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The community also borders Kaduna state
to the west.
Nickel could potentially be a
high foreign exchange earner for Nigeria, particularly at a time the country's
economy was facing the blight of declining global crude oil prices.
Nickel is sold primarily for
first use as refined metal in manufacturing of many other alloys, while about
65 per cent of it is consumed in the West, used for the production of stainless
steel products.
Nigeria could join some of the
world's largest producers of Nickel, which include Philippines, Indonesia,
Russia, Canada, and Australia, according to the US Geological Survey.
At the moment, Nigeria's current
output of Nickel is below 2.5 metric tons per annum, produced mainly from scrap
irons.
The discovery of the mineral in
large volume could see the country's production capacity increased
significantly, as government has already shown commitment to raise its capacity
to meet the country's annual steel demand of 6.8 metric tons, Mr. Fayemi told
Bloomberg recently.
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