TITAN MINERALS INTERVIEW: ‘WE POSSESS ONE OF THE LARGEST DATA SETS RELATED TO NIGERIAN MINERAL RESOURCES AND THEIR ABUNDANCE IN THE MINERAL CORRIDORS”

Fadi A. Ghazale, MD and founder of Titan Minerals.

Exclusive interview with Fadi A. Ghazale, MD and founder of Titan Minerals Ltd (formerly AG Vision). Titan Minerals is the exclusive Diamond Plus sponsor of the upcoming Nigeria Mining Week in Abuja from 1–3 November.

Let’s start with some background on Titan Minerals, because you have been a longstanding partner of Nigeria Mining Week as AG Vision Mining up until recently. Tell us about this new business.

We are famous for being AG Vision Mining and today, we are using this medium, Nigeria Mining Week, to broadcast the rebranding of our company from AG Vision Mining to Titan Minerals. We rebranded simply to give the company a global outlook and conform with the international organisation we are growing into. Our vision for Titan Minerals is to become a world-leading and accredited mineral exploration company that uses modern exploration techniques and offers its expertise in advancing assets from Greenfield to public listing.

So basically, we prepare, quantify mineral resources, work on feasibility studies, and make sure that the investment of our clients meet the requirements of the international community, finance institutions, banks, and any investor that would want to look at credible data. And we built these capabilities inhouse, so we have access to a large fleet of equipment, in terms of exploratory drilling. We are one of the leading institutions in Nigeria that can offer diamond drilling, reverse circulations, and equally air core/RAB.

We also possess a significant number of geophysical and electromagnetic magnetic equipment, a laboratory preparation facility, XRF spectrometers, and a large set of data related to Nigeria, probably the largest in the country, in terms of the occurrence of mineral resources and their abundance within the mineral corridors, so to speak, along the Nigerian mineralised belts.

Any specific projects or success stories that you are particularly proud of and want to share?

What seems to be interesting about 2022 is that we are seeing a steady flow of interest from junior exploration companies, mostly based in the UK, in Australia and Canada, that are curious about knowing the real potentials of Nigeria and whether Nigeria is really, or will become a mining destination with large mines and big projects. And we are currently working on several projects, mostly related to gold, base metals and tin.

Most importantly, there is a very large interest in battery minerals, with a large focus on lithium pegmatites. We are currently working for several clients with interest in these particular minerals.

In addition, the Nigerian government is progressing with the implementation of “the roadmap”, and it is expected that the MMSD will not relent unless the objectives are achieved. After the handing over of the NIMEP project, post NIMEP discussions are mostly channelled towards attracting genuine junior mining companies to take over and progress with the requirements of a feasibility study, and eventually get these assets to the extraction level. So far, several renowned local and western companies have shown authentic interest in embarking on such a venture, and Titan Minerals is at the front of such positive impact.

Fig 1. RC sampling during one of the projects

Fig 2. Trench work in one of the project areas

Where 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 that Nigeria is one of the last frontiers of untapped orogenic gold systems, and therefore we anticipate a bright future for the mining industry. In parallel, we are keeping couple of African countries on our radar, with interest in some projects in Chad and others in Ethiopia.

How important is Nigeria for your company?

Interesting question. Well, since I was a young man, I just came to Nigeria and started working here and fell in love with the people and fell in love with the local culture. A large chunk of my life has been spent in Nigeria, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunities and the kindness of the people. But the reality today is that Nigeria is a fertile ground for mining. I mean, it’s so attractive, that maybe by the time you realise that the opportunity is there, other people would have grabbed it, and sometimes, these projects can take decades to be realised and go into production.

So whatever we are doing today, we are going to harvest it down about 10 years down the line. So, I think Nigeria will never change, Nigeria will always be Nigeria. And this unique attribute of a country is also very unique in my mind and soul and heart. I personally see that the mining industry, represents the hope of tomorrow for Nigerians, represents progress, prosperity, employment for the youth, education, and a creation of a big industry that is more prolific that the Oil and Gas industry in terms of local value creation.

Fig 3. Ongoing diamond drilling and reverse circulation campaign at FCT

Are there particular challenges in Nigeria and the region?

I think the whole of West Africa and even the world are passing through a current crisis. However, in our particular industry, investing in the mining industry and mostly gold assets is a genuine method of leverage against inflation.

In our quest to unlocking Nigeria’s mineral potential, we face challenges in building resilience among our team members while trying to adapt to new environments, to market demands, to pressure, to inflation, to prices. And so far, we’re trying as much as possible to be considerate of the current situation, because everything is going up and so our operational costs are going up. Holistically, Nigeria is advancing but such growth is a work in progress and is something that will take years and years to build up in order for Nigeria to attain its mining goals.

You are a pioneer of the mining industry, are there still things about this sector that surprise you?

Well, what surprises me to see in this mineral endowed nation is a very large and mostly young population that has no access to work and employment. You will see that by the time the industry starts growing, it will lead to the creation of new opportunities and the formation of service clusters, it will shape the education system while generating a sense of belonging and strong hope of a bright future.

What will be your message at the upcoming Nigeria Mining Week?

We are excited and looking forward to gaining a wider exposure. We want the local companies to get acquainted with our unique mineral exploration services and the global juniors to know that the Nigerian market already entails high renowned exploration companies with an access to globally recognized experts with a vast experience in Nigeria’s distinctive geological terrain.

You have been a sponsor and exhibitor at the event before and this year Titan Minerals is at the event as the exclusive Diamond Plus sponsor. What has been your experience of Nigeria Mining Week over the years?

Becoming a diamond sponsor for this year shows the value that our company has been able to extract from Nigeria Mining Week. We are working with great people and a great team. And we believe that it 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 have been able to grow with the event when it started. And I remember the first event was very small. And then gradually, we started growing and the community started expanding. And today, I really believe it is one of the best events ever happening in Nigeria.

How excited are you about being part of the first live Nigeria Mining Week since the pandemic?

We have been waiting for this moment for the last two years and we tried to keep contact with the mining community through the online events that took place during the last two years. So, we are so happy to be on board again and to meet the operators  and the industry professionals after such a long time. And we are also excited about showcasing our services to the interested operators globally. Lastly, I want to thank the whole Vuka team for all the support.

PRIVATE PROJECTS

Fig 4. Pitting and soil geochemical programme on a llead, zinc and copper prospect

• Currently advancing several assets along the Schist Belt to drilling stage, with high prospects in gold, tungsten, lead, nickel, scandium, among others.
• Several ongoing and completed geological mapping and geochemical sampling programmes on battery minerals with focus on lithium pegmatites.
• Overseeing and drilling on numerous base metals assets (lead, zinc and copper) within the Benue Trough with more than 5,000 meters of diamond drilling executed and assayed.
• Exploration and drilling of tin and columbite mineralisation within the younger granite around the Jos Plato.

PUBLIC PROJECTS

• In the last year, Titan Minerals has handed over the final report on the National Mineral Exploration Programme (NIMEP) to the MMSD and NGSA. This project targeted two programmes: vein gold and base metals associations, and PGE-Ni-Cr-Co mineralisation. We are honoured and proud to have discovered new mineral systems in Nigeria and we have demonstrated the existence of economic resources. We are currently engaged with the MMSD and the NGSA on attracting investors that would move the discoveries to feasibility and eventually extraction.
• Drilling for the National Geological Survey Agency on numerous commodities i.e. drilling on phosphate in Sokoto, bitumen in Edo and Ondo, gold and associated minerals along the Schist Belt.