Association asks FG to stop Chinese miners from stealing pricey metal.
Nigerian miners under the umbrella of the Miners Association of Nigeria have sent a passionate plea to the federal government to check the activities of Chinese miners who are said to be “scavenging” for lithium. The association says that these miners’ activities will threaten the economy of the country down the line. It was reported in the news that Chinese nationals were burrowing in Nigeria’s mines and grabbing whatever deposits of lithium that they could find to sneak back home to fuel their industries.
Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol “Li” and atomic number 3. The metal is pricey in the international market and it is a valuable ingredient in the production of batteries that run the next generation of electric products, including electric cars. This is why these miners have asked the government to stop the Chinese before it is too late. Foreign nationals have been known to mine minerals in the country without the intervention of the federal government.
The association gives the effects of not taking action.
According to the association, “Chinese are moving from one mining site to the other, scavenging and mopping our raw lithium mineral at a cheap rate to develop their industries and economy. This is not good for the future of our economy; what this means is that Nigeria will end up buying electric batteries from them. Allowing the Chinese to enter into every mining site is one of the reasons kidnapping is on the increase in Nigeria because they are the major target for kidnappers.”
The association ended their plea by asking the government to take a number of actions. The first is to revoke the 100% mining license, which was granted to the Chinese. The association says that allowing the Chinese to have 100% mining assets is not good enough for the indigenous mining investors. They also asked that the government safeguard the country’s lithium and revive all the moribund companies producing batteries in Nigeria.
Global lithium market is valued at $3.83 billion and projected to double.
When one looks at the market for lithium worldwide, the concerns and demands of the miners can be understood. According to the Fortune Business Insights, the value of the global lithium market is valued at $3.83 billion in 2021 and it is projected to double to $6.62 billion in 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1% in the period. The familiar metal, silver, is valued at $182.1 billion in 2019 by Grand View Research and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.0% in terms of revenue from 2020 to 2027.
Beyond its use and value of the precious metal in the raw state, unravelling the value chain of lithium can confer billions of dollars to any economy that has the metal encrusted in its earth. According to Live Science, lithium is a versatile metal that is used in medicine and in the making of batteries. Lithium is “the lightest known metal [that] can also lighten your mood. Lithium, atomic number 3, is an element of many uses. It’s used in the manufacturing of aircraft and in certain batteries. It’s also used in mental health: lithium carbonate is a common treatment of bipolar disorder, helping to stabilize wild mood swings caused by the illness.”
Even only a fraction of the value chain reveals significant gains.
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. Breaking down only a fraction of the value chain reveals significant gains for the economy. The electric car market is valued at $246.70 billion in 2020. The market is projected to rise from $287.36 billion in 2021 to $1.318.22 trillion by 2028 at a CAGR of 24.3% during the forecast period of 2021-2028. If Nigeria was to tap into just one percent of that market based on the predictions above, it means electric cars can add more than $13 billion to the economy in one year and $91 billion in seven years.
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This so called Chinese wants to ruin our dear nation just doing as if they own Nigeria,can’t blame them though the government are at fault they sell our country short because of their selfish gains.
It is irresponsible for the Chinese to be stealing lithium from us. There needs to a be contract between the suppliers and the Chinese people working in the mining industries. The government should put a stop to this heinous and aggravating act of the chinese.
This China people self. What they can not accept in their country they are doing it here. Government is to be blame for keeping quite and allowing them to misbehave. If we try this in China na arrest straight up
The China should be stop from stealing lithium from us the government need to do something about it, this are thing that will be useful for our country why stealing and not buying it. Contract must be made in other for them to get hand on this stuff. Government need to show up to this issue
Adequate security and lay down procedure should be impose on the mining industry to put away the Chinese criminal act.
It is unfortunate that citizens of China were digging up Nigeria’s mines in order to steal any deposits of lithium they could locate in order to smuggle it back to their country and use it to power their factories.
We just have useless government who do not understand their left from their right. All they’re doing is to embezzle public funds. Now in our home on our soil China are coming to mine pricey mineral resources they pretend not to know about it. Very useless government.
This privy metal ought to be a source of revenue for us, but instead foreigners steal it from us ,And nothings is being done to that
Foreigners that are stealing out resources should be arrested, the government should start paying attention to things like this and ensure that they are being apprehended
This is one of the reason why we need to tighten our security, we also need to be strict we those that can enter the country
The fact that Chinese nationals are the primary target of kidnappers in Nigeria may be one of the reasons why the country is seeing an increase in the number of kidnappings that are taking place. Mining sites that are open to Chinese nationals are one of the causes.
It is quite unfortunate that a foreigner the Chinese for that matter will come our country and steal lithium from our soil: what you can’t do in their country This is a prove of the type of an incompetent government that we have.
It would be very helpful if the government of Nigeria took steps to protect the country’s lithium reserves and resurrected all of the dormant battery manufacturing enterprises in the country.
“insecurity” as we have been complaining about. I can’t blame them, I will blame the government anytime any day… They are at fault they belittled our country in the sight of other countries because of their selfish interests. Too bad!
It has come to light that non-citizens of the country have been mining minerals here without the knowledge or permission of the federal government.
The Chinese are moving quickly from one mining site to another, scavenging and scooping up as much of our raw lithium material as they can while keeping the price low in order to build their businesses and economy, which is a problem.
In order to ensure that nothing unethical takes place, there must be a contract in place between the mining industry’s suppliers and the Chinese labourers.
Unraveling the value chain of lithium can add billions of dollars to the economy of any country that has the precious metal embedded in its earth. This is in addition to the uses of lithium and the worth of the precious metal in its raw state.
This theft will ultimately result in When even just a small portion of the value chain is dissected, huge benefits for the economy are revealed.