The Federal Government says it will be inaugurating “Made-in-Nigeria barite” on Oct. 28, to save US$ 300 million being spent annually on barite importation.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite made this known on Monday during a Press Conference at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Adegbite explained that imported barite is used in the Oil and Gas industry, adding that the resource is domiciled within the Benue trough (Benue, Taraba and Adamawa states and fringes of the North (Nasarawa, Plateau and Gombe), as well as the southern fringe of Cross River.

According to him, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Slyva, will launch the made in Nigeria barite.

He further disclosed that the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, will also be present along with the Executive Secretary at Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, (NCDMB) Simbi Wabote, including stakeholders in the oil industry and their counterparts in the mining sector.

What the Minister said:

“What we are doing today is a major milestone along the roadmap that was created in 2016 and 2017.

“Barite is a material used in the oil industry and Nigeria has barite awashed all over the country, especially in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Plateau, Borno, Gombe and Cross River States.

“The process has always been processing our raw ore to industrial grade that would be useful for the industry, and it is not limited to barite alone.

“We have that in so many other minerals. We are coming up very shortly with a council it is called the ‘downstream policy’ that would discourage the exportation of raw ore from Nigeria.

“We are saying that there should be some sort of beneficiations to any mineral that is mined in Nigeria before is being exported.

“This will of course create opportunities for investors who necessarily want to get into mining but can start processing plants.

“What we have done here since we came into office is to take our barite as a strategic material take it from the mines to the market, and without being immodest I will say, we thank God for the success we have achieved.

“On Thursday, October 28, 2021, we will be launching proudly made in Nigeria barite as being produced to American Petroleum Institute, API, Standard, and they set the standard for the oil industry.

“We have 50 bags as samples that have been produced and labeled proudly made in Nigeria.

“What we have done as a Ministry is to create linkages from the mines to the millers and from the millers to the baggers and of course to the market, and then we have the end product which is API Standard.

“Nigeria has been spending $300 million annually importing barite into the country, effectively this will stop.”

The Minister continued: “We are going to save $300 million yearly, that is more than enough because for every mineral that is mines in Nigeria, we get a royalty. So, government is going to get royalty from barite, and from the way we have structured it, Nigeria would make more money."