By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA- A mining expert has raised alarm over bitumen pollution in some communities in Ondo State, as the people grapple with the attendant degradation.

Solomon Jerry, said the communities are not finding it funny as their source of water has been affected and makes it difficult for them to access other sources of water.

He said: “Discovered in 1907 by German geologist, Bitumen literally flows in Ondo State. But the mineral resource that should have been a blessing to the people is now a curse.

“Bitumen overflow in communities like Irele, Agbabu and Ilubirin in Ondo state pollute the lands, cover the waters and makes life difficult for the inhabitants, while Nigeria spend over N2.0 billion annually to import the same product into the country.

“The high cost of bitumen is one of the reasons Nigerians roads are in deplorable state, yet the country sits on the world’s 6th largest Bitumen deposit.”

He also lamented the current economic mess as a result of the fall in global oil prices which the country groans under, and pointed out some vital solid minerals that would have diversified the economy.

“It has been established that there are over 45 economically viable mineral resources in Nigeria that are either not explored or underexplored. The easy money from oil and gas made Nigeria abandon the solid mineral sector just like other sectors of the economy and became a mono-economic country, spending billions of naira annually to import mineral resources and other products that could have been produced locally and create jobs in the process.

“Just like Nigeria, Ghana is also blessed with crude oil but fewer mineral resources than Nigeria. But unlike Nigeria, Ghana in their wisdom developed other sectors of their economy along with their oil and gas. Today, mining is a major contributor to Ghana’s economy.

“Prior to 1975, Nigeria was a major exporter of tin and columbite with a peak annual production of 11,000 tonnes of tin concentrates and 14,000 tonnes of Columbite ore. Columbite, the ore for niobium, occurs in association with tin deposits on the Jos Plateau, Bauchi, Kano and Benue states. They are also found in pegmatites in Cross River, Oyo, Niger, Kwara and Kogi states.

“Gold was mined commercially in Nigeria during the colonial era. Ilesha gold mine remains very famous in Nigerian history. Abandoned colonial gold mines exist in Okolom-Isanlu, Kogi state, Sokoto, Kaduna and Calabar among many others. About 384,000 ounces of gold were produced from Nigeria in 1913.

“Iron ores of diverse origin and quality are found in Nigeria with the purest and largest reserve found in Itakpe, Kogi State where proven Iron Ore reserves are in excess of 200 million tonnes, grading in ferrous (Fe) content  from 25 – 50 per cent.

“The true reserve of the deposit is yet to be quantified. In addition to Itakpe deposit, large reserves of sedimentary iron ore are exposed at Agbaja area in Kogi State, holding excess of 30.5 million tonnes of iron that assays 50 per cent Fe and economic percentage of phosphorous and alumina that can be processed as by-products,” he maintained.