EMERGE launches game-changing development for the mining sector – Alake

•As SMDF facilitates 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum aluminium refinery project

By Gabriel Ewepu

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, said yesterday that the launch of the Early‑Stage Mineral Exploration and Research Grant Endowment (EMERGE) programme will be a turning point for Nigeria’s solid minerals sector.

Speaking at the Abuja launch, Alake noted that EMERGE has been carefully designed to advance geological exploration, support the development of critical minerals, and fund research that adds value to Nigeria’s solid minerals.

He explained that the programme will concentrate on three core areas: mineral exploration, critical minerals development, and research and development. The goal is to produce reliable geological data and position Nigeria as a key player in the global energy transition.

Alake also highlighted that the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) has already enabled a 1.5 million metric‑tonne‑per‑annum aluminium refinery project, among other major investments in the sector.

“It is a great child of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, SMDF, and why this matters, it matters because it works through three different streams,” he said. “The first is the exploration stream, which is the very first asset, hence the name legacy. The second is the critical minerals stream, which underpins the minerals demanded by the global energy transition and the processing technologies that allow us to refine them here in Nigeria. The third is the research and development stream, which supports the geoscience and mineral processing research that underpins all of this.”

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