•112 councils to benefit from initiative

To determine accurate mineral deposits in states across the country, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is set to embark on an airborne geophysical survey in 19 states of the federation.

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, disclosed this, on Friday, in Akure, during the flag-off of the sensitisation programme in the Southwest.

Adegbite, who was represented by the Project Coordinator of Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification (MINDIVER), a World Bank-assisted project, Sallim Salaam, said the exercise would cover 112 councils across the country.

“It is to determine accurate mineral locations using modern-day contemporary aeromagnetic mechanism,” he said.

He said states to be covered include: Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi. Also Enugu, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Taraba, Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Bauchi and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

He advised residents of the affected areas not to panic, as a result of the aircraft movements.

Adegbite said the survey was similar to the previous ones that took place between 2003-2007 and 2009-2011.

“This current survey is of high resolution, which is expected to return more details and information on geology that could lead to the discovery of several minerals due to improvement in technology and advancement in knowledge.

“It is slated to start this June 2021 and will run through a period of about eight months, depending on weather conditions,” he said. (The Guardian)

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