Report by: Olanrewaju Elegbede (Real Africa News)
THE COMPONENT OF NIGERIA MINING INDUSTRY
Coal, Lignite and Coke
Main
article: Nigerian Coal
Corporation
Mining
is the extraction[removal]of minerals and metals from the earth. The Nigerian Coal
Corporation
(NCC) is a parastatal corporation that was formed in
1950 and held a monopoly on the mining, processing, and sales of coal, lignite,
and coke products until 1999.[2]
Coal
was first discovered in Enugu in 1909, and the Ogbete Mine had
opened and begun regularly extracting coal by 1916. By 1920, coal production
had reached 180,122 long tons (183,012 t).
Nigeria's peak coal production was in the late 1950s, and by 1960 production
was at 565,681 long tons (574,758 t). The Nigerian Civil War caused many mines to be
abandoned. After the war ended in the early 1970s, coal production was never
able to recover. Attempts to mechanize the industry in the 1970s and 1980s were
ultimately unsuccessful, and actually hindered production due to problems with
implementation and maintenance.[2]
The
Nigerian government is currently trying to privatize the Nigerian Coal
Corporation and sell off its assets. While the domestic market for coal has
been negatively affected by the move to diesel
and gas-powered
engines by organizations that were previously major coal consumers, the
low-sulfur coal mined in Nigeria is desirable by international customers in Italy and
the United Kingdom, who have imported Nigerian
coal. Recent financial problems have caused a near shutdown of the NCC's coal
mining operations, and the corporation has responded by attempting to sell off
some of its assets while it waits for the government to complete privatization
activities.[3][4]
In
April 2008, Minister of Mines and Steel Sarafa Tunji Ishola announced that Nigeria was
considering coal as an alternative power source as it attempts to reform its
power sector, and encouraged Chinese
investors to invest in the coal industry.[5]
The Nigerian Mining
Cadastre Office
manages all the Nigerian mining licenses and mining rights. They are a subsiary
of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
Gold
Gold
deposits are found in Northern Nigeria, most prominently near Maru,
Anka, Malele, Tsohon Birnin Gwari-Kwaga,
Gurmana, Bin Yauri,
Okolom-Dogondaji, and Iperindo in Osun state it is not very dominant in the
country.[1]
Gold
production began in 1913 and peaked in the 1930s. During the Second World War, production declined. Mines were abandoned by
colonial companies, and production never recovered.[1]
The Nigerian Mining Corporation (NMC) was formed in the early
1980s to explore for gold. Lack of funds, and the lure of easier profits from
oil production led to its failure. There is no large scale gold mining
operation in Nigeria today, though there is small-scale mining carried out by
artists.[1]
The family of Aleye from Anka is one of the leading gold families in the
region.
Iron Ore
Nigeria
has several deposits of iron ore, but the purest deposits are in
and around Itakpe
in Kogi State.[6][7]
The National Iron Ore Mining Company
was founded in 1979 and given the mission to explore, exploit, process, and
supply iron ore
concentrate to the Ajaokuta Steel Company
(ASCL) in Ajaokuta and Delta Steel Company
(DCL) in Aladja.
Additional demand has come from several steel rolling mills. The company and
its mining operations are based in Kogi State.
Export of excess iron ore beyond what is required for domestic needs is
currently being explored. Additionally, the Nigerian government has invested in
foreign iron ore operations in Guinea.[7]
3
Uranium
The Nigeria Uranium Mining Company (NUMCO) was a parastatal
organization that controlled the exploration and mining of uranium
in Nigeria and was a public/private partnership with Total Compagnie Minière
of France,
which owned 40% of the company. In 1989, Total pulled out of the partnership,
and in 1993 the government reassigned NUMCO's responsibilities to the Nigerian Geological Survey. The NUMCO corporation was
dissolved in 1996, and the government is in the process of liquidating its
remaining assets.[8]
Recently,
several important uranium deposits were discovered in Cross River State, Adamawa State, Taraba State,
Plateau State, Bauchi State,
and Kano State
by the British Geological
Survey.[9]
Ecological effects
Environmental
officials with the government of Plateau State believe that 1,100 tin and columbite mines,
abandoned after the mining boom of the 1960s,now pose serious health risks to
as many as 2 million people living in the area. Radioactive mine tailings were
reported to be a danger to local people living around mining fields in Jos,Barikin-Ladi,Bukur,
Bassa and Riyom districts.[10]
Petroleum in Nigeria was first discovered in the 1970s.
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