The Federal Government has announced a landmark mineral discovery in Kaduna State, revealing the existence of a world-class polymetallic mineral province containing platinum group metals, gold, nickel, copper, lithium and rare earth elements. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, made the public disclosure on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit 2026, held in Abuja under the theme, “One Africa, One Resource Vision.”

Alake described the find as a historic breakthrough, noting that it was the first time the government was making the announcement publicly. He said recent exploration activities verified by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency had uncovered deposits of exceptionally high grades within the province, a development he said positions Nigeria among the world’s most promising destinations for strategic mineral investment and sustainable mining.

The discovery was made by a private company working in collaboration with the government agency.

The minister’s announcement came on the same day that Steron Mining and Company Limited unveiled an estimated 3.3 million metric tonnes of lithium reserves at its Abuja mining site, during a facility tour organised for delegates attending the summit.

The company, which initially operated as a granite quarry before identifying lithium and tantalite deposits, walked visitors through the complete mining cycle, from exploration and core drilling to blasting, tunnelling and production across both open-pit and underground operations.

The Kaduna discovery is particularly significant given the state’s existing geological profile. The region has long been identified as part of Nigeria’s mineral-rich basement complex, but the scale and variety of what has now been confirmed marks a new chapter in the country’s solid minerals narrative. Platinum group metals in particular are among the rarest and most commercially valuable substances on Earth, widely used in the production of catalytic converters, electronics and clean energy technologies.

The announcement forms part of a broader drive by the Tinubu administration to reposition Nigeria’s mining sector as a major pillar of economic growth, reducing the country’s near-total dependence on oil revenues. Minister Alake has consistently championed sweeping reforms in the sector, including moves to attract foreign capital and push the country toward value-added mineral processing rather than raw material exports. With global demand for critical minerals surging on the back of the energy transition, Nigeria’s latest find could not have come at a more strategically opportune moment.