Arewa Center for Regional Development (ACRD)

Untapped economic potentials	Solid minerals: Gold, Lithium, etc.	Information technology (ICT)

Stronger economies together	Arewa center of excellence	Arewa strategic development

Era of collaboration & partnership	Small & medium enterprises	Arewa regional decision makers

Arewa demographic shifts	Arewa, the quest for unity	Publications


	Gold is in abundant reserve in some states and they are not exploited in large scale. There are proven reserves of both alluvial and primary gold in the schist belt of Nigeria, in the southwestern part of the country, and in some states in Northern Nigeria. Gold deposits in these states are mainly alluvial. Therefore, private investors can stake concessions on these primary deposits. Gold exploration is not very dominant but the huge deposit can be found in the North in places like Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kebbi, Kwara. Lithium is a highly reactive metal that is used for making energy-dense rechargeable batteries for electronics, such as laptops, cell phones, electric vehicles, and grid storage. Nigeria lithium is hot cake now, the mineral was discovered in several parts of the country in the course of the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project, which was found to be of high grade.			Solid Minerals Nigeria had abundant solid mineral deposits all over the country since independence in 1960 but unfortunately, due to the government's focus on oil and gas, this viable sector of the economy is left untouched and the huge economic impact is lost. But now, investors can explore the opportunities that abound in this sector of the Nigerian economy. These abundances of solid minerals and metals in Nigeria continue to make the nation one of the wealthiest in the world. Over 120 different minerals are beneath the country’s surface. And profitable as they may seem, two of the most globally demanded minerals which are in vast volumes in Nigeria are the rich presence of gold and high-grade Lithium Ore. No wonder Canadians and other international mining investors are interested in mining gold, lithium and other minerals in Nigeria, and while Congratulating the President-elect, they claimed mining is the next big thing, bigger than oil in Nigeria and they are willing to invest across Nigeria with the right Government support.

	What Are Lithium Ore Minerals or Lithium Concentrates? High-grade lithium has been discovered in Nigeria according to the Director-General, Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Dr Abdulrazaq Garba. Lithium is a highly reactive metal that is used for making energy-dense rechargeable batteries for electronics, such as laptops, cell phones, electric vehicles, and grid storage. “High grade in the sense that the standard worldwide for even exploration and mining starts from 0.4 per cent lithium oxide but when we started exploration and mining, we saw one per cent up to 13 per cent lithium oxide content”, said Garba. “Another advantage of Nigerian lithium is that it is hard rock lithium and that is what investors are looking out for worldwide. We even had discussions with some private companies with mining licences in Nigeria and they conducted tests on the lithium and we also collaborated with Canada on that too.” Garba said that a track of mineralisation almost two to 10km was discovered close to Abuja, adding that resource evaluation was conducted on the area and anomolous gold, lead and silver were discovered with Tungsten, an addictive for steel production. Lithium Ore minerals are rocks containing Lithium, which is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3 that is not found as a free element in nature. The Lithium concentrate is the pure Lithium extract from the rock (ore) itself. They’re found mostly in the Northern parts of Nigeria. Lithium Ore mining or processing can create a great source of employment. Lithium has the formula Li+. Lithium is a chemical element with symbol Li and atomic number 3. Lithium is a silvery-white, lustrous metal. The most common Lithium Ore in Nigeria are spodumene, petalite, amblygonite, and lepidolite. Lithium ore minerals in Nigeria can exported as spodumene, petalite, amblygonite, and lepidolite. Lithium niobate is used to make cell phone batteries. Lithium is used to absorb neutrons in nuclear fusion. Lithium can be combined with other metals (usually aluminum, cadmium, copper or manganese) to make airplane parts. Lithium hydroxide and lithium peroxide are used to purify air in submarines and on spacecraft. Lithium peroxide is fantastic as it reacts with carbon dioxide to produce oxygen. One of the most important uses of lithium is in the treatment of bipolar disorder and depression. Salts of lithium (such as lithium carbonate and lithium citrate) are mood stabilizers. Lithium can be used in focal lenses for telescopes and common spectacles. Lithium is used in manufacturing batteries. The profit margins on the sale of Lithium Ore or Lithium Concentrates to international buyers can be anywhere from 15% to 110% depending on if you’re the miner or are purchasing from the mines. As a broker, one can venture into this business with $0. China is the top importer of Lithium Ore in the world. There are Lithium deposits in Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Kwara, Plateau, Ekiti, Cross River, Oyo and a few other states in Nigeria. Lithium Ore minerals and Lithium Concentrates prices are calculated in metric tonnes. Lithium rarely occurs alone in nature. Discovery of High-grade lithium in Nigeria High-grade lithium has been discovered in Nigeria in 2019. The Geological Agency described the lithium as high grade because what’s been found has between 1% - 13% oxide content. Normally exploration begins at levels as low as 0.4%. Grade (in %) is a measure of concentration of the lithium in the minerals and or rocks that contains it. Therefore, the higher the grade the more the economic viability. Higher grades are very rare for metals like lithium. Worldwide, these three countries, Australia (40,000 tonnes), Chile (20,600 tonnes) and China (14,000 tonnes) mine about 86% of the world’s lithium. Others are Argentina (6,200 tonnes), Brazil (1,900 tonnes), Zimbabwe (1,200 tonnes), USA (900 tonnes) and Portugal (900 tonnes), according to 2020 data. The largest importers of lithium are South Korea, China, Japan, US and Belgium. Lithium price was averagely US$2,000 per metric ton in 2002 rising to US$18,000 in 2018.			List of abundant Natural Resources in the North Abuja: Gold, Cassiterite, Dolomite, Clay, Lead/Zinc, Tantalite, Silver and Marble; Adamawa: Magnesite and Kaolin, Gypsum and Bentonite; Bauchi: Gold, Gypsum, Wolfram, Coal, Limestone, Lignite, Iron Ore and Clay, Cassiterite (Tin Ore), Gemstones, Barite, Columbite; Benue: Marble and Salt, Limestone, Lead/Zinc, Iron Ore, Gypsum, Barite, Clay, Coal and Gemstone; Borno: Clay, Bentonite, Diatomite, Gypsum, Hydrocarbon, Kaolin and Limestone; Gombe: Gypsum and Gemstone; Jigawa: Butyl; Kaduna: Gold, Lithium Ore, Amethyst, Clay, Felspar, Gemstone, Graphite, Kaolin, Hyanite, Mica, Rock Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Tentalime, Kaolin, Topaz, Talc, Tourmaline and Asbestos; Kano: Tantalite, Lead/Zinc, Glass Sand, Gemstone, Copper and Gassiterite; Kastina: Marble, Salt and Kaolin; Kebbi: Gold; Kogi: Gold, Lithium Ore, Dolomite, Cole, Felspar, Gypsum, Iron Ore, Felspar, Columbite, Talc and Cassiterite; Kwara: Gold, Lithium Ore, Tantalite, Mica, Marble, Iron Ore, Feldspar, Columbite and Cassiterite; Nassarawa: Lithium Ore, Quartz, Quartz, Tourmaline, Tantalite, Talc, Sapphire, Salt, Mica, Limestone, Iron Ore, Galena, Marble and Feldspar; Niger: Gold, Lithium Ore, Lead/Zinc, Iron Ore, and Talc; Plateau: Lithium Ore, Wolfram And Tin, Tantalite and Columbite, Salt, Molybdenum, Marble, Lead/Zinc, Kaolin, Iron Ore, Granite, Gemstone, Fluoride, Emerald, Coal, Clay, Cassiterite, Bismuth, Bismuth, Bauxite And Barite; Sokoto: Gold, Salt and Silica, Sand, Potash, Phosphate, Limestone, Laterite, Kaolin, Gypsum, Granite, Flakes, Kaolin and Clay; Taraba: Kaolin, Barite and Lead/Zinc; Yobe: Soda Ash; Zamfara: Gold, Lithium Ore, Cotton, and Coal. What is lithium and why is it important? Lithium Ore is a metallic mineral in very high demand by manufacturing industries. Seven years ago the bulk of demand for lithium was split between ceramics and glasses (35%) and greases, metallurgical powders, polymers, and other industrial uses (over 35%). Less than 30% was for batteries. But by 2030, batteries are expected to account for 95% of demand. Lithium-ion batteries are generally more expensive but have better performance and are becoming the preferred technology. The different types are: Lithium-cobalt oxide battery. It is used in consumer electronics and is finding application in electric vehicles. It is relatively cheap. Lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt is a newer, higher performing range of battery chemistry. It is mainly developed for the electronic vehicle market but is finding a wider use because of its increasing cost effectiveness. Lithium iron phosphate, the safest technology with relatively high performance but relatively expensive. It is very popular in China but is likely to become overtaken by Lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt over the longer term; and Lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminium oxide developed to reduce cobalt consumption and is known as a solid performer and of reasonable cost. It is also becoming popular outside China. Uses of Lithium-Ore and its Demand Lithium-ion batteries are used in mobile phones, computers, electronics, energy storage systems and electric vehicles. The forecast is that they will dominate the lithium market over the next decades. However, there are many different types of lithium-ion battery for different applications. Lithium and most lithium minerals are mined along with other high-value metallic minerals such as tin, niobium-tantalum (columbite-tantalite) and uranium (in pyrochlore). Greenbushes mine in Western Australia is the largest hard-rock lithium mine in the world. Tantalum is also mined there. In 2019, the mine’s output capacity doubled to 1.34 million tonnes of lithium concentrates annually after a second processing plant was added. Global lithium mine production hit a record high of 100,000 tonnes in 2021, a 21% increase over 2020 (82,500 tonnes). Due to the growing interest in clean energy, the demand for lithium has skyrocketed as most countries draw plans to phase out fossil fuel vehicles and switch to zero emission electric vehicles. The underlying demand for lithium is expected to rise proportionately to the production and sales of those vehicles. Lithium production globally grew from 28,100 metric tons in 2010 to 86,000 in 2019. The challenge will be in supplying the market with enough lithium.