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Nigeria will open two major lithium processing plants this year, the country’s mining minister announced on Sunday. This marks a shift from selling raw minerals to other countries toward processing them at home to create more value.
Chinese investors have mostly funded the facilities, which could help transform Nigeria’s vast mineral wealth into jobs, technology, and manufacturing growth within the country. Mining Minister Dele Alake said a $600 million lithium processing plant near the Kaduna-Niger border is planned to open this quarter, while a $200 million lithium refinery on the outskirts of Abuja is almost finished.
The government expects two additional processing plants in Nasarawa state, which borders the capital Abuja, before the third quarter of 2025, the minister said.
“We are now focused on turning our mineral wealth into domestic economic value – jobs, technology, and manufacturing,” Alake said.
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According to separate announcements by governors of the states where the plants will operate, Chinese firms, including Jiuling Lithium Mining Company and Canmax Technologies, have provided over 80% of the funding for the four facilities. Local investor Three Crown Mines owns the remaining stakes.
Nigeria’s push for domestic processing follows a 2022 study by Nigeria’s Geological Survey Agency, which discovered significant deposits of high-grade lithium across half a dozen Nigerian states, attracting considerable international interest.
These developments are part of Nigeria’s broader reforms to its underdeveloped mining sector, which currently contributes less than 1% to the nation’s gross domestic product. Other reforms undertaken include restricting the export of unprocessed minerals, making artisanal mining operations more official (which account for much of the current extraction), and establishing a state mining firm where investors can own up to a 75% stake.
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