The development comes on the heels of President Tinubu's speech at the ongoing 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York accusing foreign entities of stealing Nigeria's solid minerals.
The Nigerian government and South Korean government have resumed talks on revising a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on investments in the solid minerals sector.
The Deputy Director of Information of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Alaba Balogun, said this in a statement on Thursday.
Mr Balogun said the talks on revising a MoU between Nigeria and South Korea on investments in the solid minerals sector topped discussions between Nigerian public and private sector officials and the South Korean government recently.
He said the Nigerian team comprised officials of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and Oando Mining Company.
The Korean Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources, (KIGAM) and Korean Mines Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation, (KOMIR) represented South Korea.
He added that the Director-General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Abdulrazaq Garba, represented the Solid Minerals Minister, Oladele Alake, at the talks.
Mr Balogun said the talks held under the auspices of the Seventh Korea-Africa Economic Co-operation conference in Busan, South Korea, abd resolved to review a 2006 Memorandum of Understanding to include training of Nigerian mining professionals in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Ore Modelling, Mineral Processing, research, and exploration of critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite.
The statement noted that the president, KIGAM, Pyeong Koo-lee, offered to collaborate with Nigeria to explore the large deposits of lithium-bearing pegmatites.
He said KIGAM has the best technology in lithium ore processing, noting that the beneficiation process can reduce the carbon to improve the grade of the ore.
Vice President of the state-owned KOMIR, Alex Kwon, expressed interest in overseas mining investment, adding that KOMIR provides technical and financial assistance and investment in the exploration and mining of solid minerals.
He added that KOMIR partners with the private sector to invest in the global mining industry.
Background
This comes on the heels of President Bola Tinubu's speech at the ongoing 78th United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, when he accused foreign entities of illegally mining Nigeria's gold and other minerals.
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"Foreign entities that are abetted by local criminals, who aspire to be petty warlords, have drafted thousands of our people into servitude to illegally mine gold and other resources. Billions of dollars meant to improve the nation now fuel countless violent enterprises," Mr Tinubu said at the world leaders' gathering in New York City, the United States.
"If left unchecked, they will threaten peace and place national security at grave risk. Given the extent of this injustice and the high stakes involved, many Africans are asking whether this phenomenon is by accident or by design. Member nations must reply by working with us to deter their firms and nationals from this 21st-century pillage of the continent's riches.
"To keep faith with the tenets of this world body and the theme of this year's Assembly, the poverty of nations must end. The pillage of one nation's resources by the overreach of firms and people of stronger nations must now end," Mr Tinubu declared.
In recent years, Nigeria has lost billions of naira to weak regulation of the mining sector.
According to the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparent Initiatives (NEITI), Nigeria lost $9 billion between 2014 to 2015 to illegal mining of gold and other mineral resources.
The money lost to illegal mining is mostly licensing fees and royalties to the government. While the government could be losing these funds, there is a bigger loss: this is the loss incurred through the government's inability to properly monitor and regulate the activities of miners.
