FG: Ajaokuta Rolling Mill can’t Be Ready Again In 2022

• Attributes delay to Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine war

• Says local bitumen processing’ll reduce road construction cost

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

The federal government has ruled out the possibility of completing the 43-year-old Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill in Kogi State this year, saying its initial resolve to resume the construction of the mill was thwarted by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Making this disclosure Thursday while featuring on the weekly ministerial media briefing at the State House, Abuja was the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite.

He revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the release of $2 million for the conduct of a technical audit of the mill as demanded by Russians before the restart of its implementation.

He said the technical audit was necessary to ascertain the condition of the facility before restarting the work. 

According to him, just as arrangements were being made to commence the process, the Covid-19 came and put a halt to all activities causing a force majeure. 

He said as the government moved to continue the earlier negotiations with Russia following the lockdown and procurement, progress was again stopped by the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. 

The minister maintained that the approved $2 million is still intact as it has not been paid out.

According to him, government’s earlier promise to deliver the project this year is no longer feasible, saying: “Where we are today, we may not be able to get Ajaokuta to work.”

He, however, expressed the hope that something can be started on it that will be permanent, while absolving government of any blame over the non-completion of the project. 

Responding to a question, Adegbite said: “I told you Ajaokuta, by the grace of God, we will start an irreversible process. The problem with Ajaokuta is actually what we call force majeure. Nobody thought of the Covid-19 because the plan was deliver Ajaokuta this year 2022. 

“And I’ve said it before, when we came back from Russia. Yes, I went to the public and said, look we will deliver Ajaokuta before the end of this tenure. And I pray that I’ll have a chance to go back and apologize and explain what happened to the people before I leave office. 

“Yes, it is through no fault of ours. Everybody was gun go. We were ready to go. Unfortunately, Covid became a force majeure.” 

He announced that a Saudi Arabian group working with some Nigerians has undertaken to produce the technical audit without cost to the country. 

Adegbite stressed that the country is blessed with huge bitumen deposits that have been left untapped, while the one required for road construction is being imported. 

He said his ministry has finalised plans to auction the deposits for processing to serve Nigerian road construction needs, reduce cost and create employment. 

His words: “We are going to auction now for bitumen in June, this will bring a lot of money. A lot of foreign companies are showing interest in our bitumen. This is even better than bitumen is found in Canada. 

“So, we have a lot of Canadian companies who have shown interest, because  Canada supplies the largest volume of bitumen to the world now. So, we have a lot of companies coming from Canada. They want to participate in our bitumen project that will create jobs, give value to government, and of course, will also help when it comes to our projects, road construction.” 

The minister disclosed that government is reviewing Mining Act, 2007 to bring it up to date, saying 44 solid minerals have been found in over 500 locations in Nigeria with many in commercial quantities. 

According to him, the  mineral deposits are broadly categorized according to their uses, into five groups including industrial minerals such as baryte, kaolin, gypsum, feldspar, limestone; energy minerals such as coal, bitumen, lignite, uranium; metallic ore minerals such as gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead- zinc, copper; construction minerals such as granite, laterite, sand, and precious stones such as sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst and garnet, etc. 

On the reform in the sector, Adegbite noted that seven minerals have been designated as strategic to unlock the enormous potential in the sector. 

“They are coal, iron ore, bitumen, gold, limestone, lead-zinc and barite. We have adopted a forward-thinking approach, by developing the strategic minerals of the future. These include minor metals such as titanium and cobalt,” he said. 

The minister revealed that Nigeria has commenced gold exports through the Segilola resource development, which is expected to export 100, 000 ounces of gold annually.

He said: “Their production capacity is 100,000 ounces per annum.  You can plan on that. We know how much we are charging per ounce of gold at that rate. So you know that in a year, this is what we are expecting. We charge at 3% but the price will vary because our price is based on the cost that is going at the international market, the New York exchange will quote the price of gold at any particular point in time.

“That’s our reference price. So it’s not fixed as in like, Oh, it must be N10 every year. Gold went as high as $2,500 per ounce at a point. And I think it’s worth about $2,290 now, on the stock exchange. So this is the price we used to calculate that.”