On Friday, the Executive Secretary, Khalil Nur Khalil, alongside MD of the Kaduna Mining Development Company, led the team on a visit to Mararaban Jos to appreciate ongoing construction of the FIRST Lithium processing plant in Nigeria by Ming Xin Mineral Separation Nig Ltd.
Lithium is the ideal element to make powerful, portable batteries. With this plant planned for commissioning in April this year, Kaduna is further strengthening her position as the ideal investor destination in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Processing Plant will begin production in Kaduna this April. As electric cars are growing in popularity, Lithium in Nigeria will become the new oil. Another Chinese company will be investing $500m in Kaduna to produce batteries and electric car.
The KADIPA, Kaduna Investment Promotions Agency, team met with the representatives of Global Links Logistics Limited, a Chinese company preparing to invest in the mining sector of the state with lithium being their primary aim for the production of EV car batteries in Kaduna in the short run.
Tesla had earlier expressed interest to mine lithium in Nigeria, but was required to double down on value addition before Nigeria will allow lithium mining. Nigeria’s minister of mines had reached out to Australians to find lithium miners who better align with Nigerian industrial policy.
In August 2022, Nigeria’s minister of mines and steel development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said the country had rejected Tesla Inc’s request to mine lithium, unless the company were to situate a battery-making factory in the West African nation.
He said this is to retain value along the global processing chain of lithium.
Lithium is expected to triple in demand by 2040, according to the World Bank. The price of a tonne of lithium jumped from about $6,000 in 2020 to over $78,000 in 2022.
Lithium has so far been discovered in the northern states of Kogi, Nasarawa, Kwara and Plateau, as well as Oyo, Ekiti and Cross River in the south.
