The largest lithium procrssinp plant in West Africa, Diamond New Energy has been innaugrated in EndoWest Africa’s largest lithium processing plant innaugrated in Nassarawa State community, Nasarawa Local Government Area, Nasarawa State. The Inaugration was performed by President Bola Tinubu.
The plant has a daily processing capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes and an annual capacity of three million metric tonnes. The company says it has created over 1,000 direct jobs and more than 2,000 indirect jobs since operations began.
Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said solid minerals remain “the enduring backbone of every economy”, warning that “nations do not become great simply because nature has been generous to them.” He said: “What changes a nation is a deliberate movement from extraction to processing, from potential to production.”
The President said lithium is central to battery technology, electric mobility and renewable energy storage, describing the plant as part of a broader national industrial drive: “A factory is never just a building; it is where policy becomes employment.”
Governor Abdullahi Sule was commended for positioning Nasarawa as a model for extractive industry development, with the President noting that “investment is drawn by leadership.” Sule urged more mining investors to Nasarawa, citing commercial deposits of lead, zinc, copper, gold and iron ore.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said the Federal Government will no longer permit export of raw minerals without local processing. “Our goal is to begin to produce lithium batteries, vehicles, phones, solar panels… We want to produce everything in Nigeria,” he said.
