The Kaduna State Chapter of the Miners Association of Nigerian has disclosed that mining activities in the state have been crippled by lack of access to loans from commercial banks.
Chairman of the association, Malam Lawal Maiyari said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.
According to him, the mining sector is an untapped goldmine in the state. He therefore urged the miners to come up with bankable feasibility study on the amount of mineral deposits to attract loans. However, he said that such study will require heavy equipment and other mining gadget without which nothing much can be achieved.
“But with the government’s support, a comprehensive and bankable data will be generated to pave way for sustainable and commercially viable mining activities in the state,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted him to have said.
Maiyari also noted that solid minerals are being underutilized in the country due to overdependence on the oil sector.
He said that the north was richly endowed with solid minerals deposit that could sustain every state instead of relying on the allocation from the federation account.
Despite the absence of sophisticated mining equipment, artisan miners have continued to explore minerals resources in the state.
“We value their contributions to discover minerals by risking their lives since there are no equipment,” he said.
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