Nigeria Breaks Ground on Maiden Gold Refinery

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Nigeria announced groundbreaking of the country’s first gold refinery in Ogun State. The ceremony held Thursday was attended by Hon. Abubakar Bawa Bwari, the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development along with other distinguished guests from public and private sectors.

The refinery is being developed by Kian Smith Trade & Co Ltd.  The production is scheduled to start in 2019. The construction of the refinery is expected to be completed by end of H1 2019. Upon completion, the refinery is expected to have production capacity of nearly 36 tonnes per annum of pure gold and 12 tonnes per annum of pure silver. It is projected to create more than half-a-million jobs over a period of two years.

Bwari commended the Kian Smith management for undertaking the mammoth project. Speaking at the ceremony, the Commisoner for Agriculture Adepeju Adebajo stated that the project was in line with the state government’s industrialization plan. Along with strengthening Nigeria’s mining industry, the refinery will also pave way to reduce imports of refined products. The gold refinery project will act as a major boost to the Nigerian mining sector, she added.

Meantime, Nere Teriba, Vice Chairman of Kian Smith declared that the company has already secured significant monthly supply of gold from sources across Africa. The gold refined at the facility will be supplied to the Central bank and to various industries including jewellery and electronics. The refinery will be ready to start production before the end of first half of next year, Teriba said.