The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite has said that the federal government has issued registration certificates to 253 mineral buying operators across the country.
The Minister made the disclosure this Friday, being the third and last day of the 2019 and 3rd annual meeting of the National Council on Minerals and Mining Development (NCMMRD) held in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State while delivering his keynote address.
He said, “To ensure that artisanal miners have access to market through the formal economic system, government has initiated the establishment of private mineral buying centres.
“Currently, the ministry has issued registration certificates to 253 Mineral Buying Centre operators across the country.”
The Minister said as part of the sector reform programme and in line with the artisanal mining formalisation policy of government, a total of 1, 759 artisanal and small scale miners sites have so far been identified across the Nigeria.
He also revealed that with consistent interventions by the federal government, through the ministry, 1, 346 artisanal mining operators have been drawn into forming registered Artisanal Mining Cooperatives in readiness to access Small-Scale Mining Licences, with each of the cooperatives having additional 20 mine workers in addition to over 10 members.
On his part, the Chief Host who is the immediate past Minister of the ministry and Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi who expressed gratitude to the Minister for accepting the idea of hosting this year’s event in the state appealed to the staff of the ministry and all stakeholders to extend the same kind of support and cooperation they gave him to the current Minister while he (Fayemi) was with them.
He stressed the need for the federal and state governments to close ranks in order to move the sector forward.
“It is imperative that we continue to build bridges of relationship between the federal and state governments,” he remarked.
