Hon. Enaholo Ojiefoh, who is the commissioner for mining and energy in Edo State (oil, gas, and power), has said that the state government is thinking of ways to make the most of the valuable minerals in the state that haven’t been used yet.
At a meeting with reporters in Benin City, Edo State, Ojiefoh said that the large deposits of coal, lithium, and dolomite in different parts of the state could bring in billions of dollars more for the state. He also said that plans are in full swing to make this happen.
He said that the government made three new units in the ministry, such as investment, research, and power, to help it reach its goals.
He said, “For coal alone, we have four million metric tons of deposits in just two local government areas in the Owan axis of Edo North. If we are able to use it, it will make us billions of dollars, because right now it is about $25,000 metric tons, and if you multiply that by 1000 metric tons, you can figure out how much we are talking about. If lithium is used well, it will be worth more than $200 billion a year. Gold is worth more than that, and so is dolomite.
The commissioner said that the ministry now has an easy-to-access database with all investments, prospects, stakeholders, and other information about the ministry.
“With just one click, you can find out what’s going on in the oil and gas business in the state. That means you can see all the gas stations in the state with just one click.
How many mining businesses are in the state?
You can just look at our directory to see everything that has to do with the ministry. “We’re just waiting for a few pieces of information to come together so we can launch the database,” said the commissioner.
He also said that the weekly market report on solid minerals in the state is the first of its kind in Nigeria and is meant to let people know how much minerals are worth on the market in the state.
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