NES24: Nigeria issues first gold refining licence

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, has revealed that the Federal Government has issued the first gold refining license.

Speaking at the 24th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES24) in Abuja on Monday, Udoma said this was one of the many outcomes of the economic recovery and growth plan (ERGP) focus labs.

The minister revealed that the government issued the first gold refining licence in Nigeria to Kian Smith Limited.

“As an outcome of the ERGP focus labs, we have also been able to accelerate the development of the national gold development policy and the establishment of a federal gold reserves scheme in Nigeria,” Udoma said.

“Today, I am happy to inform us that the first gold refining licence has been issued to a company called Kian Smith Limited, which was one of the companies that participated in the labs.

“The federal government is finalising modalities to purchase gold from local refiners, via a federal gold reserves scheme,” he said.