Nigeria Unveils Major Lithium and Critical Minerals Discovery

Nigeria has identified what officials describe as a major new critical minerals province containing deposits of lithium, gold, copper, nickel, platinum group metals and rare earth elements, as Africa’s largest oil producer seeks to diversify its economy and attract investment in the global energy transition.

The discovery, located in Kaduna state, was announced at the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit in Abuja, where officials said the newly identified polymetallic mineral province could become one of the country’s most significant mining developments in years.

Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the Kaduna discovery represented a “world-class” mineral province and a major milestone for the country’s mining sector.

The discovery was made by private company Steron Mining in partnership with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), which later verified the findings.

“Nigeria is positioning itself among emerging destinations for strategic mineral resources and sustainable mining investment,” Alake told reporters at the summit, highlighting the importance of critical minerals to clean energy supply chains.

The announcement came alongside details from Steron Mining that exploration at its Abuja-area operation had identified about 3.3 million tonnes of lithium reserves. Company geologists said the wider project contains an estimated 94.8 million tonnes of mineral resources, including lithium-bearing ore and granitic rock.

Demand for lithium and other battery metals has surged globally as governments and manufacturers seek supplies for electric vehicles, energy storage systems and renewable energy infrastructure.

Nigeria’s lithium potential has attracted growing international interest, with Chinese companies including Jiuling Lithium and Canmax Technologies committing more than $1.3 billion toward processing facilities in the country, including Kaduna state.

The Nigerian government has increasingly focused on developing local processing capacity rather than exporting raw minerals. Steron said it already processes lithium ore domestically before export, in line with federal policies aimed at increasing value addition within the mining sector.

But major challenges remain before new discoveries can translate into large-scale production. Infrastructure limitations, unreliable power supply, artisanal mining activity and regulatory hurdles continue to constrain Nigeria’s mining industry.

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