From David Christopher,Lafia
Chinese firm, Kenyang Mining Company has promised to establish a tantalite processing plant estimated at $250 million in Udege, Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
Governor Abdullahi Sule disclosed this during a reception in honour of Chim Nku 1, Habila Aboki, to mark his fifth anniversary on the throne and golden jubilee in Akwanga on Sunday.
According to Governor Sule, Kenyang, which has been mining and exporting raw tantalite from Udege since 2003, has resolved to establish a tantalite processing plant in the next 24 months.
The governor said the agreement was reached following his trip to China on the invitation of another Chinese firm, Lovol.
“While in Shanghai, I had the opportunity to meet with the owners of a company called Kenyang.
“Kenyang has been in Udege since 2003. I wanted to see all the materials they have been taking from Udege, what have they been doing with it.?
“They said today, they don’t use metal in producing covers for telephones. All these covers that you see are titanium and tantalite. The tantalite they are taking in Nasarawa State is what they are giving to the only manufacturer of this cover of telephones.
“I told them there and then that I cannot leave Shanghai empty-handed after seeing what I have seen. I told them they have to do something,” he said.
The governor added that Kenyang promised to set up a tantalite processing plant in Udege within the next 24 months, with the company committed to paying degree holders a minimum of N500,000 monthly as salary.
Sule explained that Lovol, an industrial equipment manufacturing company primarily focused on agricultural equipment, had also committed to establish its maintenance facility in Nasarawa State.
The governor visited another company in Tontin known as Julian, worth about $78 billion and the third largest lithium processing plant in China.
While traveling across China, especially Hunan Province, Sule said he noticed that there was no available land that is not being utilised for agriculture, which is the major preoccupation of the people there.
He said apart from the opportunities he had attracted from China, he had also learned from the Chinese the significance attached to talents and merit, which combined to make the Chinese successful.
