NASENI to partner Nasarawa State on local processing of lithium

The Nasarawa State government and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) are set to partner on a lithium processing policy that would ensure that lithium mined in the state is processed locally instead of exporting it raw.

The processing policy is in line with NASENI’s drive to encourage the processing of strategic solid minerals and particularly to ensure that batteries are produced locally for both electric vehicles as well as other energy storage applications.

This was disclosed when Abdullahi Sule, the governor of Nasarawa State, paid a courtesy visit to Bashir Gwandu, the executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of NASENI at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.

Nasarawa state is one of the states acknowledged to have potentially the largest deposits of lithium in Nigeria.

NASENI stated that it recently made headlines on its efforts to encourage investors and Nigerian lithium offtakers from around the world to come and partner with it to process various combinations of lithium into batteries locally.

This, it stated, will include lithium processing from mineral crushing and extraction all the way to final products that can be used both locally and also export to other countries, adding that some companies from China have already started visiting NASENI as a response to the call.

Gwandu disclosed that NASENI will partner with other government agencies such as Rural Electricity Agency (REA), Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) and other investing institutions on this effort.

The NASENI CEO  said he was pleased that the Nasarawa state governor is coming to collaborate with NASENI in this regard.

“A number of companies have indicated interested in investing in Nasarawa state to process lithium in various quantities ranging from 1,000-3,000 tonnes per day. So far, almost 6,000 tonnes per day are projected to be processed daily in Nasarawa alone,” he said.

On his part, Governor Sule said the companies have already indicated interest to process the 6,000 tonnes per day in Nasarawa state, adding that other states such as Kebbi, Kwara, etc., might also attract such kind of companies and investments, and there is need for proper coordination, and for all hands to be on deck to ensure that Nigeria takes its place by being recognised as one of the largest lithium producers in the world.

The governor described the development as something that is akin to Gold Rush which he termed ‘Lithium Rush”, noting that this is because lithium price in the world market has jumped from $6,000 per metric tonnes to $78,000 per metric tonnes.

“Nasarawa state has a large quantum of Lithium and hence the need to have a better working synergy with NASENI for purposeful exploration, extraction and processing,” the governor remarked.

The governor hinted that the NASENI Solar in Gora may be used as a lithium processing and battery production plant considering its proximity to the raw materials and also the proximity to the NASENI solid minerals institute which is also located in Nasarawa town in the same state.

While promising to give the agency necessary support, he called for more collaborations with the state as it plans a second economic summit that would be tagged “Lithium Rush Summit”.