Nigerian govt revokes additional 924 mining licences

The Federal Government has revoked additional 924 dormant mining licenses in the country.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.

He also decried the licence racketeering by some Nigerians.

The minister lamented that mining licence racketeering was impeding the development of the sector and obstructing genuine investors from showing interest in Nigeria’s mines.

Alake revealed that 528 exploration licences, 22 mining leases, 101 quarry licences and 273 small-scale mining licences were revoked by the government.

He stressed that a 30-day grace was given to defaulters to rectify their statuses and explain the reasons for dormancy on the sites allocated to them in line with constitutional provisions.

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He said: The 963 licences were published in the official gazette of the Federal Government in December 2023 awaiting revocation.

“Out of these, only 39 of the listed licence holders responded to the warning as they either moved to site immediately or they stated challenges hindering their operations.

“The decision to revoke the licences was taken to sanitise and reposition the mining sector to boost Nigeria’s economic profile and to accelerate its industrialisation.”

The federal government in November last year revoked 1,663 mining licences over failure by the owners to pay statutory charges and other dues.”

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