Mr Dele Lake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, on Saturday confirmed the completion of a commercial transaction for raw gold sales with the London Bullion Market Association.
The Minister, who revealed the boost of $5 million to Nigeria’s foreign reserves, added that more than 70 kilograms of gold have been refined to the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard.
This successful aggregation of locally mined gold has injected approximately N6 billion into the rural economy.
Over the weekend, Alake presented President Bola Tinubu with the latest gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and refined by the Solid Minerals Development Fund.
According to the Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, the minister stated in a statement that the refined gold will be sold to Central Bank of Nigeria as a way of boosting international reserves.
Nigeria is reputed to have around 600,000 tonnes of gold reserves valued at about $45 billion found in several states like Zamfara and Edo.
However, illegal mining activities have made the country’s natural wealth go into private hands thereby reducing resources meant for public good.
Three years ago, former president Muhammadu Buhari declared Zamfara State a ‘no-fly zone’ to address illegal mining of gold.
At the event, Alake commended Tinubu’s remarkable support for change in solid minerals and added that the National Gold Purchase Program will assist in boosting the country’s reserves and improving naira.
“Your Excellency, Mr. President, this is the first commercial transaction we have done under the National Gold Purchase Program which is a centralized off-take program with a decentralized network of artisanal miners and cooperatives,” he said.
“The successful completion of the first commercial transaction demonstrates the effectiveness of the National Gold Purchase Program. It has increased our foreign exchange reserves assets and shown how keeping liquid assets like gold in US dollars but making payment through Nigerian Naira is feasible. This deal also highlights that it is possible for fiscal and monetary stability to be improved upon with the National Gold Purchase Programn.”
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“This is yet another significant step towards diversification under Renewed Hope Agenda,” the President stated.
Fatimah Shinkafi, the Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, in her presentation stated that the Good Delivery Standard of London Bullion Market is a well-known and trusted strict standard for trading gold and silver bars across the globe.
In her words, “The settlement of Loco London contract only allows gold and silver bars that meet our Good Delivery standards – where the traded bullion is held physically in London.”
Shinkafi added that Nigeria has joined a group of countries that are strengthening their reserves by purchasing gold with local currency under the National Gold Purchase Program which is implemented through Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, to build economic confidence, currency stability and create an attractive environment for foreign investment.
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