Quantitative Assessment of Nigeria’s Mineral Resource Endowment and Implications for Long-Term National Economic Strategy

A reliable quantitative assessment of Nigeria's total mineral resource endowment is a prerequisite for informed national economic strategy, yet the most recent comprehensive national resource assessment predates Nigeria's current geological knowledge base by over two decades. This dissertation presents the first quantitative reassessment of Nigeria's solid mineral resource endowment using modern geostatistical and economic valuation methods, and analyses its implications for long-term national economic strategy. The resource reassessment synthesises data from the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency archives, NGSA airborne geophysical survey data, published exploration reports, and new field data from targeted confirmation sampling across all 36 states. Mineral resource estimates in compliance with the JORC code reporting framework are presented for 24 commodity categories. National-level resource value is estimated using long-term commodity price scenarios developed from global supply-demand modelling. Results indicate that Nigeria's total recoverable solid mineral resource value, at moderate price assumptions, exceeds 700 billion United States dollars, with lithium, iron ore, and limestone collectively accounting for over 60 percent of estimated value. Strategic analysis using a resource endowment optimisation model identifies three priority industrial development pathways for Nigerian minerals over a 30-year horizon: domestic steel industry supply, battery material export, and construction mineral import substitution. The dissertation makes an original contribution to resource economics and national mineral policy literature and provides a technical foundation for Nigeria's next Mineral and Metal Policy. Keywords: mineral resource endowment, national economic strategy, Nigeria, JORC, resource valuation.