The Federal Government has commenced operations at a high-purity gold refining plant in Lagos, signalling a decisive shift from raw mineral exports to domestic value addition. The announcement, made by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, also confirmed progress on three additional gold refineries across the country and the completion of a 600-million-dollar lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State awaiting commissioning.
The minister described the projects as clear evidence that Nigeria’s value addition policy is delivering results. Beyond revenue and job creation, the expanding refining capacity is expected to reduce illegal mineral exports, strengthen traceability across the value chain, and improve transparency, thereby boosting investor confidence in the solid minerals sector.
Alake noted that the emerging gold and lithium processing facilities position Nigeria as an important supplier in the global green energy transition, supporting electric vehicles, renewable energy storage, and advanced manufacturing. He also emphasised deepening cooperation with Saudi Arabia on technology transfer, capacity building, mineral exploration, and ESG standards to further strengthen Nigeria’s minerals ecosystem.
