The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, DELE ALAKE says the solid minerals sector and the National Gold Purchase program will increase the country’s reserve and boost the naira’s value.

He stated this when he presented the latest gold bar sourced from artisanal and small gold miners and refined by an agency in the Ministry to President BOLA TINUBU.

ALAKE said that the refined gold was refined to meet the London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery Standard and would be sold to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bolster foreign reserves.

The minister said the production marked the first commercial transaction under the National Gold Purchase Program, the centralized offtake scheme supported by a decentralized aggregation and production network of artisanal and small-scale miners and cooperatives.

Receiving the symbolic bar, President TINUBU commended the Ministry for achieving a major milestone in the administration’s drive to diversify the economy.

In her presentation, the Executive Secretary of the Solid Minerals Development Fund, FATIMAH SHINKAFI, said the London Bullion Market Good Delivery Standard is the globally recognized stringent and trusted standard that enables the global trade in gold and silver bars.