Nigeria is upping its beneficiation game, announcing four lithium processing plants that are set to come on line in 2025.

According to a Reuters report, a US$600 million lithium processing plant will begin operations near the Kaduna-Niger border as early as this quarter, while a second US$200 million refinery near Abuja is also close to completion.

Another two facilities are expected to open in the third quarter of 2025 in Nigeria’s Nasarawa state.

Most of the funding  – 80% – for all four projects is to come from Chinese companies such as Jiuling Lithium Mining Company and Canmax Technologies.

‘We are now focused on turning our mineral wealth into domestic economic value – jobs, technology, and manufacturing,’ says the country’s mining minister, Dele Alake.

3 June 2025
Image: Unsplash