The Federal Government has assured that the National Iron Ore Mining Company will simultaneously receive technical audit and funding alongside the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, gave this assurance while on a tour to Itakpe, Kogi state, to assess the current state of the company
The Ajaokuta Steel plant has been economically unproductive for decades, and efforts at reviving it had in the past proved abortive.
The steel plant which sits on 12,000 plots, has a 68-kilometer road network and another 24-kilometer road network underground.
It was built decades ago and has never produced any steel due to the dispute over the ownership of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO).
The dispute made it impossible for the government to make any long-term plans for the concession or privatization of the two companies.
The funding for the revival of the companies is coming from two sources, the Russian export center, providing 450 million dollars, and the Afrexim Bank providing 1 billion dollars, totaling 1.45 billion dollars.
Despite over 200 million tonnes of iron ore deposit, the plants have become moribund.
