TheCable

The ministry of mines and steel development says it has set up a N5 billion fund to support artisans and small-scale miners.

The ministry said it is doing this in collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BOI).

According to a statement seen by TheCable, a certified artisanal scale miner can get between N100,000 and N10 million while a small scale miner can get between N10 million and N100 million at an interest rate of 5 percent.

The loan, which has a tenor of five years, is supposed to cover provision of working capital and purchase of plants and machineries.

“The ministry of mines and steel development (MMSD) in August 2017, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Industry Limited (BOI) for the management of a N5 billion fund in support of artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) in the country,” the statement read.

“This fund is particularly designed to play a catalytic role in the mining sector.

“Under this scheme, a certified artisanal scale miner, can access between N100,000 and ten million naira (N10,000,000.00); while a small-scale miner can access between ten million naira (N10,000,000.00) and one hundred million naira (N100,000,000.00) with an interest rate of 5%. This fund is particularly designed to play a catalytic role in the mining sector.”

The industrial minerals in focus are barite, felspar, kaolinitic clay etc. Metallic minerals in focus are precious metals like gold, lead, zinc etc.

Dimension stones like marble, granite, charnockite etc. Other precious stones are topaz, amethyst, sapphire etc.