ABUJA – NIGERIA and Saudi Arabia have resolved to revisit and deepen plans for mining projects, as well build capacity in geological agencies for greater performance and productivity.

The move by the two countries was to ensure Nigerian geological agencies leverage on the achievements by Saudi firms in mineral explorations over the years.

According to a statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, the assurance was given at a closed-door meeting between Nigerian and Saudi authorities on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the Saudi Minister of Mining, Engr Bandar Al-Khorayef, said the government and the private sector were working together to introduce new technologies for mineral explorations, and also emphasised that new products were on exhibition at the conference for patronage and to raise awareness of their applications.

Tomori said, Engr. Al-Khoraye said this while responding to the presentation by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, who opened the talks with a proposal for both countries to collaborate on areas of economic advantage.

Meanwhile, Alake stressed that Nigeria and Saudi Arabia can form partnerships based on the sector’s value chain, while he used Saudi Arabia’s famous gold market as an example, and said Nigeria’s gold refineries could gain access to the Saudi market under protective clauses, guaranteeing both economies’ expansion opportunities.

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The Minister who was accompanied by his counterpart, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, including Directors-General of the ministry’s agencies, also met officials of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce, and he wooed them with the nation’s large deposits of lithium and iron ore, saying are being processed in line with the administration’s value addition policy.

To de-risk their investment, the Minister promised to authorise the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, to provide relevant data on their minerals of interest.

Asserting that the shift in the global industry towards electric machines using lithium batteries has made Nigeria a critical supplier of minerals, he (Alake) affirmed that partnership with Saudi investors would encourage the export of finished industrial inputs.

Noting the investment in steel production in Saudi Arabia, the minister cited examples of companies processing iron ore to steel in Nigeria as precedents that could be replicated.

He listed laboratories for the separation and analysis of mineral samples among facilities in Nigeria to ease mining projects, adding that Nigeria has the best certified laboratories for minerals in West Africa.