FG initiates biometric data capturing to curb illegal mining

The Federal Government has said it has initiated biometric data capturing for all registered artisanal and small-scale miners across the country under the formalisation and mainstreaming of ASM operators to curb incessant illegalities that have fraught the subsector in Nigeria

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite in his keynote address at the commissioning of the Gold Processing Plant Mopa, Kogi, said government is presently creating an ecosystem to minimize the high rate of illegal mining and smuggling, increase Government’s revenue from the resource, create jobs, and improve environmental and social stewardship.

He said, the Ministry under his leadership and Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, as a matter of Strategy, prioritized the ASM to stem incessant illegalities that have fraught the subsector in Nigeria by initiating and supporting biometric data capturing of all registered artisanal and small-scale miners across the country under the formalization and mainstreaming of ASM operators.

Adegbite further appreciated the worthy efforts of notable development partners without whose contributions, the laudable achievement would not have been possible.

He said: “The choice of Mopa as a location for the gold processing plant is predicated on its central position on the Schist Belt which trends from the northwest through western Kogi State to southwest Nigeria. The Nigeria Schist Belt is known to host rich deposits of gold. With the location of the gold processing plant in Mopa, artisanal and small-scale gold operators within the Schist Belt states can easily have access to the plant for their gold processing and refining”.

The Minister also explained that the informal trading of unprocessed gold leads to capital flights and job losses.

He, therefore, said it is in a bid to develop the downstream sector mining industry to improve product pricing, create jobs, improve revenue generation and attract foreign markets to Nigeria.

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