The Minister of State, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD) under Dr Ochechukwu Ogah, said that the ministry recorded 1,562,720 grams of Gold production between 2016 to 2020.
The Minister made this known during the 2021 Annual Public Lecture organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Bwari branch, on Thursday in the FCT, Abuja.
He said that the ministry recorded 30,112.24 grams gold production in 2016 with 17,458.22 grams in 2017 and 64,000.05 grams in 2018.
Ogah added that it had 162,742.53 grams in 2019 and 1, 288,407 in 2020 bring the total production to 1,562,720.04 grams.
According to him, Nigeria is blessed with abundant gold that can help to boost our foreign reserve.
“Nigeria can use the gold produced to boost our foreign reserve as well.
“We can subdue insecurity militating against mining activities in Nigeria using all the methods that other countries are using”, he said.
He also explained that Nigeria’s gold reserve was estimated to be over a million ounces in Osun where detailed exploration and reserves checks were done.
On coal, he said that available data showed that coal occurred in commercial quantities and grade in 22 coal fields spread across 16 states in Nigeria.
According to him, the ministry is aspiring to have a coal industry that is producing large tonnages of coal for electricity generation and other domestic use and generate revenues for government.
