President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja said improved gold mining operations in the country will generate no fewer than 250,000 jobs and over $500m annually in royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.disclosed this at the official presentation of locally mined gold bars by the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative , where he also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to establish gold refineries in Nigeria.
‘‘With the implementation of the PAGDMI scheme which will result in the set-up of accredited gold buying centres across key mining areas, artisanal miners and SMEs engaged in mining will be able to capture the value of their work. ‘‘These gold assets which will be purchased in Naira, will not only help to bolster our international reserves, it will also provide a hedge against inflation and other economic volatilities associated with foreign currencies that are held in our reserves,’’ the president said.
On environmental degradation, President Buhari pledged that the government would pay close attention to safety and environmental measures to protect workers and the environment. ‘‘It has also led to a 40 per cent drop in crude oil prices. In Nigeria, the drop in crude oil prices has had a significant impact on government revenue, as well as on our foreign exchange earnings.
‘‘Given our current estimated gold reserves of over 200m ounces, most of which have not been exploited, developing sustainable programmes that will catalyse increased investment in the extraction and refining of gold sourced from mines in Nigeria, is indeed vital,’’ he said.
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