By John Okeke
The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is planning for the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) SMDF to have an establishment Act, which will then empower the agency to source funds from the private sector. Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, announced this during the presentation of two batches of equipment by Executive Secretary /Chief Executive Officer of the Fund, Fatima Shinkafi, to the Minister.
The equipment delivered were Niton DXL Precious Metal Analyzer and Mettler Toledo Precision Analytical Balance.
Adegbite noted that the Act amounted to SMDF performing its statutory function to equip the mining departments and agencies and to enable the ministry to perform its oversight and supervisory role.
The Minister commended the leadership of the agency, for the procurement of the equipment which would help the ministry’ s officers at the field to identify the right amount and quantity of specific minerals.
Adegbite said: “The SMDF is fulfilling one of its obligation to the department and to the ministry. And I think we should develop on this, so that there can be total synergy. Arising from what we are planning for SMDF to have an establishment act and to empower them to really get their own funds.
“Once we are able to do this it would be greatly beneficial for all of us as they would be in the position to raise funds even outside government from the private sector. And of course it can only be beneficial to the sector as a whole as they support the ministry to carry out its functions and oversight and supervisory function and helping the miners out there to fulfil their aim.”
The Minister stated further that the knowledge acquired by the various department in the Ministry such as Mining Inspectorate, MI, Artisanal and Small Scale Mining, ASM, Mine Environmental Compliance, MEC would be made available to SMDF.
According to him: “It should also be that the knowledge we acquire from the field from MI, ASM, IPMT, MEC is availed to SMDF so that they can be used to tailor some of their products. so it should be symbiotic and a win win for all.”
Hajiya Shinkafi had noted that the Fund was just performing its statutory function of equipping mining institutions, enabling them to perform their roles.
Speaking about the equipment presented to the Ministry, she noted that it would help the departments perform the duties excellently.
“The Niton DXL precious metal analyser will enable nondestructive analysis of metals with near instantaneous results. It is exceptionally fast, easy to use, results appears in seconds on a bright, touch-screen colour display.
“It requires no harsh chemicals or acids that can burn your fingers, ruin clothing and damage countertops. Faster , more comprehensive analysis than fire assay, with comparable accuracy. The assay machine also eliminates the need for density test that is crude and inaccurate.
“The instruments that we are presenting today will enable the determination of the purity and weight of golds on seconds. So we are presenting today both assaying instruments and precision weighing instruments. We are confident that this instruments will support the Ministry’s ASM clusters across the country with these types of equipment”, she said.
