The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite takes delivery of the X-Calibur ZS-ZAS planes at the GAT park of Nnamdi Azikiwe int’l Airport Abuja.
As Federal government takes delivery of the aircrafts, a later date will be announced for the official kickoff of the airborne survey and the pilot states for the activity.
The minister accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Ms. Oluwatoyin Akinlade, Project Coordinator, MinDiver Project, Dr. Sallim Salaam and other officials received two planes from the contractors, Spanish geophysics company, Xcalibur Multiphysics.
According to a statement, the Ministry through its Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification (MinDiver) Project has embarked on a 16 weeks sensitization campaign within 19 states of the federation namely: Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, and Kwara states. Other states covered by the sensitization teams include Nasarawa, Plateau, Kogi, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Taraba, Bauchi, Niger, Benue, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory.
The mini aircrafts are specially designed for airborne geophysical survey to determine accurate mineral locations in the selected areas with state-of-the-art aeromagnetic mechanisms.
The exercise will be conducted across 112 Local Government Areas within the 19 states including the FCT.
As such, the aircrafts are expected to fly at low altitude, and this may stir fear, panic and anxiety amongst residents considering the security situation in the country.
However, they are urged not to panic as adequate environmental safety measures are put in place with full collaboration of the necessary stakeholders to ensure a seamless process.
Airborne geophysical data are essential documents of the National Geological Infrastructure, as they provide objective information on the spatial distribution of the geological information and tectonics.
One of the major challenges affecting the growth and development of the Nigeria’s mining industry is lack of adequate geological information.
This outcome has affected investors decision on taking advantage of the vast mineral resources distributed across Nigeria.
