Nigeria and Saudi Arabia Engage in Strategic Discussions at the London Expo on Iron Ore Extraction and Steel Processing
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have started talking about the mining of iron ore and the processing of steel in order to encourage domestic beneficiation for exports with added value.
Discussions on the extraction and steel-making process of iron ore have been started between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
On the sidelines of the recently finished Resourcing Tomorrow at the annual Mines and Money Expo in the London borough of Islighnton, UK, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, Engr. Khalid bin Saleh Al-Musdaifer, and Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, discussed plans to extract iron ore and process steel in Nigeria.
Saudi Arabia today has a strong steel industry that imports iron ore from many African nations.
Alake argued, however, that Nigeria should extract and beneficiate iron ore for steel, since the value-added exports would fetch higher prices than raw ores.
In response, Engineer Al-Mudaifer affirmed Saudi Arabia’s desire to get iron ore for its steel sector and gave the Minister his word that Nigeria’s plan to domesticate the downstream value chain in the nation would be taken into consideration by the government.
A follow-up meeting is planned for January 2025 at the Future Metals Forum in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Alake also met with additional investors, including investment managers AMG and Business Idea Development, China, and tin manufacturers Woodcross and Gerald Group.
In order to meet the present demands worldwide, Woodcross revealed that it had conducted an initial investigation of tin mining in Jos and found indications of enough tin ores to warrant the long-term investment in processing. In February 2025, Woodcross, represented by directors Hassan Dhanji and Mehdi Ali, committed to making a final investment decision.
A Ministerial Committee was promptly established by Dr. Alake, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, to carry out the start-up according to the schedule and offer weekly updates.
The Gerald Group, under the direction of Vice President of Communications Anya Sarin and Head of Business Development Brendan Lynch, also disclosed their investigation into Nigeria’s tin industry and their interest in a joint venture.
Highlighting the Tinubu administration’s intentions to flot the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation, which would be a dependable joint venture partner for the project, Dr. Alake urged them to advocate for the project’s early start.
With a similar mandate, he gave the Ministerial Committee the responsibility of monitoring the project.
Alake also spoke with Young Chan, the Managing Director of Business Idea ManagementCentere, China, and Ajay Commem, the Director of AMG Group, on financing mining ventures in Nigeria.
Commem stated that AMG would be prepared to find funding and investors for the Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation from around the world, confirming that he was aware of the Tinubu administration’s intention to establish the company.
Chan added that he flew from China to meet with the minister in order to present Chinese funding options to the mining industry in Nigeria.
The Solid Minerals Development Fund’s Executive Secretary was instructed by the Minister to collaborate with both organizations in order to augment the Fund’s investment capital sources.
The Minister spoke with more than thirty mining entrepreneurs from around the globe as the business meetings came to a close.
As the Chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategy Group, the Minister was encouraged by the forum to endorse the innovative notion of offering exploratory money for mining throughout the continent after reviewing the proposal for the African Extractive Minerals Bank.
The AMSG’s next conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will include the project on its agenda, Alake said, praising the initiative.
All Categories
Recent Posts
Tags
+13162306000
zoneyetu@yahoo.com