The Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved N30bn intervention fund for the mining sector.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi told State House correspondents after the meeting.
He revealed that the council also approved technical advisers for the concession of railway line.
He said, “If we really must attract mining investment into the country, we need investment-based geological data for those who are in mining to be engaged in the sector.
“This is necessary having looked at what has been done in other countries even smaller than Nigeria, countries like Burkina Faso spending averagely $300m a year on exploration and Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire and so on.
“This is why council approved this for mining and this is significant because this is the accessing of natural source development fund which has been made 1.68 per cent of the Federation Account, an equivalent of the Ecological Fund and the Education Trust Fund.
“It is meant primarily for agriculture sector, mining sector and the water resources sector and this will cover exploration primarily but also research and development in partnership with our universities.
“It will also cover security and mining in partnership with the Ministries of Interior and Defence and the DSS just to tackle the menace of illegal mining across the country.”
