Mining Title Issuance in Nigeria Drops By 36.6%

The total number of mineral titles issued to mining companies has dropped by 36.63 percent within a period of five years.

This is contained in a presentation document by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, at the ninth edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration Scorecard 2015 to 2023 series organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture.

The document revealed that showed that 2815 mineral titles were issued in 2016, while 1438 were issued in 2021.

It also showed that 2,258 mineral titles were issued in 2016, 2429 in 2017, 2124 in 2018.

However, a downward slope was recorded from 2019, as 1,620 titles were issued in that year, while 1,438 mineral titles issued between January and October 2022, which is 48.92 percent from what was issued in 2016.

The mineral titles included mining, exploration, quarry, and small-scale mining licences.

The Director-General of Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Mr Obadiah Nkom, during a State House briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, recently said that 3,402 titles were revoked for defaulting on the terms of their licences.

Punch/Hauwa Abu