Nigerian government revokes 924 dormant mining licences, seeks new investors

The Nigerian government has announced the revocation of 924 licences of dormant miners comprising exploration, mining, small-scale mining and quarrying.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake, who made this known at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, said the revocation of the licenses is in furtherance of the government’s efforts to sanitise the country’s mining sector.

Alake, while announcing the revocation, said that, in line with constitutional provisions, adequate notice was given to all the affected miners through the official Gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, No. 227, published on December 27, 2023.

Alake said, “The notice gave all concerned parties 30 days to regularise their status, including clarifications on what caused the license to be dormant.

“Thus, although a total of 963 licensees were published and notified of the threat of revocation, no fewer than 39 either moved to site immediately or convinced the authorities of the challenges hindering their operations.”

The statement noted that out of the 924 dormant licences revoked, 528 were for exploration; 20 mining leases; 101 for quarrying, and 273 Small Scale Mining Licences (SSML).

The minister noted that owners of the revoked licences have 30 days to redeem them by paying fines.

He said, “For revoked Mining Licenses, a fine of N10m applies; N7.5m for Small Scale Mining License (SSML) while N5m for Exploration License (EL). They will be required to make the payments within 30 days to qualify for consideration.

“Investors across the globe are now free to apply for any of the affected Cadastral Units on the basis of ‘first come, first served.’ It is our belief that this decision will sanitise the licensing system by penalising those who have commercialised the opportunities offered by the sector into a bazaar.”