Welcome back to Nigeria Mining Week 2023! You have been a longstanding partner of the event.
Thank you very much. I’m looking forward to this year’s event and equally looking forward to sharing some of our experiences in the Nigerian mining industry.
Last year you mentioned a steady flow of interest from junior exploration companies, mostly from the UK, Australia and Canada. What are their specific interests?
I think that this year, especially in the year 2023, has been marked with the momentum that have been gathered by Nigeria for us to embark on a new journey in terms of mineral exploration and mining. As we can see, this steady flow from junior exploration companies has been marking a new era in the Nigerian mining industry. So, we are currently working on several projects, mostly related to gold, base metals and tin, but most importantly, there is a very large interest in battery minerals with a large focus on lithium pegmatites.
So, currently, we’re exploring for several companies, and mostly international companies, that have come to show an interest in Nigeria, especially at the time where we have seen that we’re entering a new cycle of battery minerals and the price of the minerals are going up. In addition to that, we have seen that the Nigerian government is also progressing with the implementation of the roadmap. And it is expected that the Ministry of Mines under the new administration will not relent in achieving their objectives. So, for example, after handing over the NIMEP project over the last two years, we are seeing that there is a general interest today from the government in advancing some of these projects and embarking equally on new ones. Particularly because Nigeria understands that to be able to attract international investors, they have to be able to generate credible data that will meet the expectations of the international community.
Any new projects that you are particularly excited about currently?
We are excited about a lot of opportunities that are being channelled towards the mineral exploration industry in Nigeria and the mining industry in general. We have seen that there is a lot of interest coming from international companies that are even listed on the stock exchanges in Toronto and in Australia, and obviously on the AIM market as well in the UK. So, we currently have several clients that have acquired several projects in Nigeria, and they are trying to explore these projects and move them into an advanced stage. We are talking about mostly drilling, and obviously building a pathway into going into feasibility studies. So, this has become a very common practice currently in Nigeria, and comparing Nigeria’s era of mining a couple of years back in comparison to today, we are starting to see the whole industry changing and progressing. We’re seeing more professional hands coming on board, we’re seeing more interest that is flowing into the country.
To talk about some of the projects that we are currently doing: We have companies from Singapore, Australia, Canada and the UK that are really channelling funds and expertise into the industry. Now, we can see that this is being done on several fronts. We have clients looking into tin and rare earth elements. We have other clients looking into gold, silver and tungsten mineralisation. And equally, we are seeing a large influx into the lithium battery industries.
Where else are you focusing for future growth?
We are mostly focused on the Nigerian market with the aim of positioning Titan Minerals as a leading mineral exploration company with unique offerings to the local market. We strongly believe Nigeria is one of the last frontiers of untapped orogenic gold systems, and equally, one of the last frontiers of where companies are able to acquire ground related to lithium pegmatites. In parallel, we are keeping a couple of African countries on our radar with interest in some projects, such as Ethiopia and Angola.
How important is the mining sector for the future of Nigeria’s economy in your view?
That’s more of a political question. But definitely, we’re seeing a lot of interest from the current administration in trying to generate income and value out of the mining industry. We all know that Nigeria has been left behind on the mining front and it has been considered a kind of monoculture, but today, even in the news, online, and on social media everywhere, we are starting to see the interest of the current administration trying to enable or unlock Nigeria’s mineral potential. And we are happy that Titan Minerals is at the forefront of unblocking such potential, mostly in terms of mineral exploration, exploratory drilling and advancing projects to the mining stage.
What will be your message at the upcoming Nigeria Mining Week?
We are excited and looking forward to gaining a wider exposure. Locally and internationally, we want the local companies to become acquainted with our unique mineral exploration services and the global juniors to know that the Nigerian market already entails highly renowned exploration companies with an access to globally recognised experts with a vast experience in Nigeria’s distinctive geological terrain.
I want to emphasise here that Nigeria has a very unique geological setup. Unlike our neighbouring countries like Ghana, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali, Nigeria has very unique attributes in terms of geology, and therefore, requires a lot of understanding in the local attributes of such geology. Today, we as Titan Minerals offer unique services in terms of understanding of the local geology, and we are happy and proud to offer it to our clients.
You have been a sponsor and exhibitor at the event before, and this year Titan Minerals is the exclusive Diamond Plus sponsor. What has been your experience of Nigeria Mining Week over the years?
Becoming a diamond sponsor for the second year in a row shows that the value that our company has been have been able to extract from this event is invaluable or is open-ended. We are working with great people and a great team, and we believe that is the biggest hub for any mining activities happening in Nigeria where everybody can be under one roof to work towards the progress of the industry in general. Over the years, we’ve been able to grow with the event when it started, and I remember the first event was very small, and then gradually, we were able to grow the community. And everything started expanding from there, including our exposure to the mining industry in general. And today, I really believe this is one of the best events happening in Nigeria.
Anything you would like to add?
We are looking forward to growing the momentum of the Nigerian mineral industry in conjunction with the international community and obviously the government that will have to create an enabling environment for companies to embark on the hard journey of generating reliable geoscientific data. And we believe that everything is coming together in order for us to work and build on that momentum and drive the industry forward and eventually put in Nigeria on the international mining map.
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