40 solid minerals awaiting development, says ABU V-C
By Naomi Uzor
Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, has said that there are about 40 different kinds of solid minerals and precious metals buried in Nigerian soil waiting to be exploited. The commercial value of Nigeria’s solid minerals has been estimated to run into hundreds of trillions of dollars, with 70 per cent of these buried in the bowels of Northern Nigeria. The Professor stated this in his paper presentation titled; Mineral Resources and Mining in Nigeria: Investment Opportunities and Challenges’ at a seminar during the 37th Kaduna International Trade Fair. He said If Nigerians were taking data seriously; we would have built a database, where we have authentic information, noting that the failure of Nigeria, since independence in 1960, to put in place a structure that will make the benefits of the exploitation of solid minerals available to all Nigerians has been the bane of the nation. At the moment, he stressed, mining of minerals in Nigeria accounts for only 0.3 per cent of its GDP, due to the influence of oil resources. The domestic mining industry is underdeveloped; leading to Nigeria having to import commodities it could produce domestically, such as salt or iron sheets and billets. According to him, solid mineral deposits are scattered all over Nigeria, with more deposits in certain areas than others. Over 40 million tonnes of talc deposits have been identified in Niger, Osun, Kogi, Ogun and Kaduna states. There are huge deposits of coal ranging from bituminous to lignite in the Anambra Basin of South-Eastern Nigeria. He noted that the low activity in the solid mineral sector is not yielding the desired financial benefit as there are no records of payment of taxes and royalty to the government. Nigeria is losing lots of resources from untapped mineral deposit as well as from the little that is being mined mostly by illegal miners who smuggle the products out of the country. “Despite the fact that Gold and Barites were being mined across the nation, there is no record to show that these minerals are among the mined or exported minerals. Further finding shows that barites are mined in Benue and Nasarawa states, despite high activities of miners there are no record of royalty payments. “From the available records of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, there was no evidence of royalty payment on these exported minerals. The Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act 2007 requires that any exporter of solid minerals must request for permit to export minerals. But in defiance to the Act, there was no available evidence of request for permit or approval to export minerals by the companies,” he stated.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/40-solid-minerals-awaiting-development-says-abu-v-c/
Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, has said that there are about 40 different kinds of solid minerals and precious metals buried in Nigerian soil waiting to be exploited. The commercial value of Nigeria’s solid minerals has been estimated to run into hundreds of trillions of dollars, with 70 per cent of these buried in the bowels of Northern Nigeria. The Professor stated this in his paper presentation titled; Mineral Resources and Mining in Nigeria: Investment Opportunities and Challenges’ at a seminar during the 37th Kaduna International Trade Fair. He said If Nigerians were taking data seriously; we would have built a database, where we have authentic information, noting that the failure of Nigeria, since independence in 1960, to put in place a structure that will make the benefits of the exploitation of solid minerals available to all Nigerians has been the bane of the nation. At the moment, he stressed, mining of minerals in Nigeria accounts for only 0.3 per cent of its GDP, due to the influence of oil resources. The domestic mining industry is underdeveloped; leading to Nigeria having to import commodities it could produce domestically, such as salt or iron sheets and billets. According to him, solid mineral deposits are scattered all over Nigeria, with more deposits in certain areas than others. Over 40 million tonnes of talc deposits have been identified in Niger, Osun, Kogi, Ogun and Kaduna states. There are huge deposits of coal ranging from bituminous to lignite in the Anambra Basin of South-Eastern Nigeria. He noted that the low activity in the solid mineral sector is not yielding the desired financial benefit as there are no records of payment of taxes and royalty to the government. Nigeria is losing lots of resources from untapped mineral deposit as well as from the little that is being mined mostly by illegal miners who smuggle the products out of the country. “Despite the fact that Gold and Barites were being mined across the nation, there is no record to show that these minerals are among the mined or exported minerals. Further finding shows that barites are mined in Benue and Nasarawa states, despite high activities of miners there are no record of royalty payments. “From the available records of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, there was no evidence of royalty payment on these exported minerals. The Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act 2007 requires that any exporter of solid minerals must request for permit to export minerals. But in defiance to the Act, there was no available evidence of request for permit or approval to export minerals by the companies,” he stated.Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/40-solid-minerals-awaiting-development-says-abu-v-c/
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