THE COMPONENT OF NIGERIA MINING INDUSTRY

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.