The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has said that the ministry would soon launch its made in Nigeria Barite.

He said this during a courtesy visit to the ministry by a delegation from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, led by NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Ogbonnaya Orji, on Thursday.

This was contained in a press statement titled ‘Mining: Made in Nigeria barite to be launched soon – Adegbite’ made available to our correspondent on Friday.

The statement said, “In its bid to develop the value chain of mineral resources in the country and achieve its presidential mandate to prioritise and develop seven strategic minerals in the Mining Roadmap, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development is set to launch its made in Nigeria Barite soon.

“The minister noted that the ministry has succeeded in achieving the development of barite from extraction, milling and bagging stages to support local industries, as well as for export, adding that the Nigeria-bagged barite has ‘Proudly Nigeria’ as its logo.”

The minister further appreciated NEITI for its efforts in ensuring transparency and accountability in the mining sector.

He added that the ministry would work towards updating and upgrading its ICT infrastructure and linking the 10 agencies under the ministry to ensure that all data of royalties paid and funds received would be properly monitored and uploaded to the server.