By Austine Emmanuel, Kaduna
As the society continues to crave for business opportunities for sustainable growth and development, Kaduna State Government has granted 85 mining operational licenses to investors in order to help boost the huge deposits and business operations in the state.
The Honourable Commissioner for Business Innovation and Technology, Dr. Kabir Mato, made the disclosure in an open remark at the Business Expo, during the 7th Kaduna Investment Summit which kicked off at the Centenary Park in Kaduna on Thursday.
According to him, Kaduna State is blessed with different mineral deposits in all the 23 Local Government Areas of the State, adding that there were at least 85 mineral exploration licenses, 40 quarry licenses, 15 mining leases and three small-scale mining leases active within the state as of 2022.
“Some mineral deposits available in commercial quantities within the state include gemstones, gold, tantalite, columbite, manganese, lithium and nickel. The state has a target for the mining sector to contribute 15 per cent to the state GDP and 18 per cent to state IGR by 2025.”
Speaking also at the event, the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamali, said the variety of mineral resources are still untapped, appealing to the state government to showcase the available resources in the state to the international community.
“I would like to draw the attention of Kaduna Investment (KadInvest 7:0) to the need to do more in the solid minerals sector. When I was serving in Malaysia, I invited Kaduna and other states in Nigeria to participate in certain areas of investment, especially the solid minerals sector; this is one area that I feel is still untapped.
“We have all the minerals that you can think of in this state, there is a need for Kaduna State to wake up and join the international community because Thailand is the hub for expo on solid minerals, worldwide, people go to Thailand annually for the exhibition and that is where you meet strategic partners that will come and support what you do here, support in terms of machineries so that at least you have the technical knowhow on processing because we have a very large deposit of a variety of precious stones.”
In the same vein, the Managing Director, Kaduna Mining Development Company Limited, Dr. Mohammed Nura Sani, noted that Kaduna State will soon become the first in Africa to produce liquid steel for industrial development.
He reiterated that work on the steel company will soon be completed, whereby industries in need of it would come for patronage.
“Kaduna State is going to be the first to produce liquid steel. Works on completion of the industry are in top gear and once completed, those companies in need of it will patronise the state.
“We also have mineral deposits which are useful in construction industries. These include granite, laterite and whatever mineral you can think of that are necessary for construction industries,” he added.