By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has expressed optimism that the lithium factory being constructed by a Chinese firm, Landmark Lithium Mining Company, in Nasarawa Local Government Area will give a boost to the industrialisation drive of his administration.
The governor, who made the remark while inspecting construction works on the lithium factory estimated to cost USD 100 million, with a projected output of 3000 tones of lithium per day upon completion, expressed satisfaction with the pace of work at the site.
Briefing journalists immediately after inspecting the ongoing project, Governor Sule said: “Lithium is one of the most attractive and most expensive minerals that are being traded in the world market today.
“In fact, it has risen over ten times its price today. Lithium is what people are using to produce batteries, either solar batteries or even the battery you have in your car. It has been mentioned over time that Nasarawa State is one of the states with the highest quantity of lithium in the North Central part of Nigeria.
“There is also lithium in Kwara, Niger, and Kogi, but Nasarawa State has been so lucky to have the largest commercial quantity.”
He added that it is a dream come true for his administration’s industrialisation drive, having encouraged the Chinese company to not only start mining lithium but to construct a factory and to pursue the value chain addition by producing finished products at the factory rather than taking the raw lithium out of the state.
“They have only about 50 Chinese working here and about 500 Nigerians that are working here. That is ten times the number of Chinese people who are working here,” he said.