Presidency officials start work on plans to limit gold mining to operators with official licences

PRESIDENCY officials have begun working on plans that will limit gold mining operations in Zamfara State to those with licences as part of a clampdown on illegal operators and armed bandits who have turned the state into a war zone.

Over the last year, Zamfara State has become one of the most violent states in Nigeria as heavily armed hoodlums have terrorists dozens of rural farming villages. It is believed that the recent discovery of gold deposits in the state fuels the violence as these bandits are seeking to control the mining trade.

Although it does not appear that the gold is available in commercial quantities, this dash for the resource has heightened tensions within Zamfara. As a result, the presidency is seeking to regulate the industry by demanding details of all those licensed to do mine gold and introducing a regulatory regime.

Nigeria's Mining Cadastral Office (MCO) and other relevant government agencies have been asked to draw up guidelines and register all those operating within Zamfara State.  Already, the federal government has ordered a cessation of mining activities and brought in the military as part of measures to tackle widespread banditry across the state.

According to the document Roadmap for the Growth and Development of the Nigerian Mining Industry, published by the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, cumulative mineral licenses granted to various enterprises operating in Zamfara State totalled 206 as at 2015. However, the number is believed to have increased within the past three years.

This document identifies $27bn as the target for Nigeria’s mining sector by 2025. Obadiah  Nkom, the MCO director-general, stressed that any firm that begins mining solid minerals with  an exploration licence or a mining lease is illegal.

He said: "MCO’s statutory focus is on leases while bodies like the Mines Inspectorate Unit under the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development focuses on how to maintain law and order in mining activities. Mechanised mining is great but because we have been over-depended on oil for a long time, we need to grow our solid minerals sector gradually and it may take a while to see results.

According to Mr Nkom who is also the president of Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, the federal government is serious about its intention to boost mining and develop it into a multi-billion dollar earner. Emphasising that mining has a long gestation period, he stated that the MCO is being repositioned with a view to boosting Nigeria’s revenue potentials from the sector.

Mr Nkom said  that his priorities for attracting foreign investors include putting all lease applications and other mining processes online so that mining firms across the world can develop more interest in the sector. In 2007, the MCO was established under the Mining and Minerals Act as an autonomous· body· for administering mining titles.