The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adebgite, has disclosed the launch of made in Nigeria Barite to stop the importation of the commodity.

Adegbite made the disclosure during the visit of a delegation from the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, led by Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, to the Ministry, on Thursday, as contained in a statement signed by the Director, Press and Public Relations Department, Etore Thomas.

According to him, it is part of the Federal
Government’s commitment to diversify the economy and stop unnecessary capital flight through the importation of Barite to the detriment of local industries that have the capacity to develop the nation’s huge deposits of barite including the development of value chain of other mineral resources across the 774 local government areas.

He further said it is to achieve the Ministry’s Presidential mandate to prioritize and develop seven strategic minerals in the Mining Roadmap, hence the launch of the Nigerian-made barite.

While giving hope to local industries in the barite industry, the Minister made it known that the Ministry has succeeded in achieving the development of barite
from extraction, milling and bagging stages to support local industries, as well as for export, adding that Nigeria bagged barite has “Proudly Nigeria’ as its logo.

He said: “The Ministry of Mines and Steel
Development in its bid to develop the value chain of mineral resources in the country and achieve its Presidential mandate to prioritize and develop seven
strategic minerals in the Mining Roadmap, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is set to launch its made in Nigeria Barite soon.

“The Ministry has succeeded in achieving the development of barite from extraction, milling and bagging stages to support local industries, as well as for export, adding that Nigeria bagged barite has
“Proudly Nigeria’ as its logo.”

He also commended the role and impact of NEITI in the solid minerals sector, described the agency’s performance as an impressive contribution by, “Ensuring transparency and accountability in the
sector.

“The Ministry is working at updating and upgrading its ICT infrastructure to enable it to link the 10 agencies in the Ministry to ensure that all data of royalties paid and funds received would be properly
monitored and uploaded to the Ministry’s server for online real-time accessibility, and we assure the Ministry’s continued cooperation with NEITI.

Also speaking was the Minster of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, who appreciated NEITI for the visit, noting that the collaboration between the Ministry and NEITI is of great importance as it would ensure mining accruals are transparently monitored.

Meanwhile, speaking earlier, the Executive Secretary, NEITI, Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, explained why the purpose of the visit, which was to deepen the relationship with
the Ministry and share data that would enable the organisation to report accurately and transparently the activities in the sector, because “the Ministry has
data NEITI can rely on.”

Orji pointed out that sharing information and data with NEITI would attract investors as well as build confidence in the mining sector.

He, therefore, requested that the Ministry’s website be uploaded regularly to enable would-be investors to get the right information from the Ministry’s webpage.

Ade3131:
What is Barite used for and what does it look like?