The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, approved about 499 licences for the buying and selling of solid minerals in Nigeria in 2023, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, disclosed on Tuesday in Abuja.
Alake, who gave this hint in his address as the keynote speaker at the BusinessDay Solid Minerals Conference in Abuja, explained that last year a notable trend in the sector was the high demand for lithium, with 146 of the licences allocated for its trade, surpassing other minerals such as gold with 91 licences, tin 46 licences, and coal (32) licences.
Other solid minerals he listed that licences were issued to traders included tantalite, iron ore, kaolin, feldspar, beryl, barite, columbite, mica, and aquamarine licenses.
The minister said: “The Ministry continues to facilitate the processing of applications for permits to refine minerals and to process and purchase. Last year, no fewer than 499 licenses were granted to applicants involved in the business of purchasing and sales of minerals.
“Predictably, applications for the purchase and sale of Lithium topped the list with 146 licences, followed by Gold, 91; Tin, 46 and Coal, 32. Other minerals for which licences were granted include Tantalite, Iron Ore, Kaolin, Feldspar, Beryl, baryte, Columbite, Mica and Aquamarine”, he added.
Alake also disclosed that the Federal Government planned to hold about 25% of the N1 billion share capital of Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation based on the current moves to legislate on the creation of the corporation.
He further clarified that Nigerian citizens would own 25% of the equity while private investors can acquire up to 10% of the remaining shares.
The minister expatiated: “Central to our efforts to reposition the sector is the establishment of a private-sector driven, Nigerian Solid Minerals Corporation. This is as the minister noted that the process of creating the legislation for the institution has begun. On February 12 and 13, 2024, the Solid Minerals Committee of the House of Representatives will hold the first policy dialogue on the proposed law to create the corporation.
“In working with the legislature to establish the legal and legitimate foundation for the institution, our resolve to ensure that a share structure in line with a private sector- led strategy in which the Federal Government will hold not more than 25 per cent, the Nigerian citizens will, by public shares hold 25 per cent and private investors, each with a maximum of 10 per cent of the shares of the N1 billion share capital, will be achieved”, Alake added.
Despite the surging rate of illegal mining activities in the country, he disclosed that the Federal Government through the various incentives introduced to attract investments into the sector there were 2,329 registered artisanal miners’ co-operatives recorded, with about 123 co-operatives registered in 2023.
He said: “It is significant that 77 of 123 opted for registration following my appeal to them to join hands with the Federal Government. The Ministry provides extension services to these co-operatives by improving their bookkeeping skills and drilling techniques. I wish to further urge artisanal miners to come together and register as co-operatives.
“To ease the operations of this sub-sector, the Ministry has licensed 986 buying centres across the 36 states of the Federation. Plateau, for obvious reasons of its long mining history, has 315 centres followed by Federal Capital Territory, 224 and Lagos, 108”, the minister added.
Alake added that efforts were ongoing to amend the Nigerian Mining and Minerals Act 2007 with a view to making its provisions align with current realities in the global mining industry.
