Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dele Alake, has given conditions for international mining companies seeking licences to operate in Nigeria.

Freelaews reports that such companies, according to him, will be required to invest in domestic processing to get licenced.

Alake announced this during the Nigeria Mining Week event going on in Abuja.

He noted that mining companies need to present business plans for “value addition” before granting them licences and that the policy is geared towards job creation.

In his words: “I am glad to mention that such an initiative is already on stream, as some companies have already commenced operations in Nigeria.”

The Minister cited Ganfeng Lithium Industry Ltd., a Chinese company currently constructing a $250 million lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State, as a prime example of the kind of investment the government seeks.

The facility is expected to process approximately 18,000 tons of lithium ore daily to produce batteries designed for electric vehicles, as stated by the minister.

Alake said the mining industry “is being modernised, and the government is investing in data collection, spending more than N15 billion over seven years to generate mineral data through a National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project (NIMEP).”