Gabriel EWEPU

ABUJA-The Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, under the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development recently published the names of 700 registered mining companies who were granted mining leases but failed to start operation over the period specified in the Minerals and Mining Act 2007, and were referred to as dormant.

The Director General, MCO, Engr. Mohammed Amate, who said this, explained that before declaring the licences dormant, there was a 30-day notice and grace period to the respective companies, which also served as an alert for possible revocation of their mining leases and licences.

He said: “Before we grant the licence it is on the basis of first-come first-served. The first person that submits his application for a licence is the one to be considered first, and unless he does not meet the requirement then the next person comes in, but it is truly on first-come first-served basis.

“Secondly, when we grant the licence you either use the licence or you lose it, which they agree to. That means when we grant you the licence, we expect you within a reasonable time as specified in the law you have to go and commence operation.”

‘Use it or lose it’ policy

Amate said government has started implementing the ‘use it or lose it’ policy, which he said led to the publication of the names of companies. “We gave them 30 days and after the 30 days we are not convinced that they are actually working, we now seek the Minister’s approval to revoke those licences so others will have access to the licences. The total number of companies published is 700.

“We published the names of those companies so that people will know and have interest to also participate, and we have so many companies that want licences. In any business there are rules and regulations, and the mining industry is one of the most regimented industries in Nigeria.

“All these things are clearly spelt out in the Minerals and Mining Act 2007. One of the major requirements of obtaining a mining licence is to be technically competent and if you don’t have it licence will not be granted and you must be financially capable.

“If granted an exploration licence, you are expected within six months to mobilise to site and commence taking samples for your analysis. If we grant you a mining lease we expect you within 18 months to start developmental work and within 36 months you start production. If we grant you a quarry lease we expect you within 18 months to commence production, and if we discovered that within the specified period according to law you are unable to mobilise to site for operation we give you a warning, like we did in the publication.”

Categories of default

Amate identified two categories of defaulters on the use it or lose it policy.

He said: “Category one comprises companies we have given licences that could not commence operation and we declared them dormant, while category two are those that were granted licences but have failed to pay their mandatory annual service fees.

“They are expected to pay N1,000 per cadastral unit depending on the number of cadastral units they have, and the maximum is 930 cadastral units. The units you bought under the exploration lease are expected to be explored and the units without minerals discovery must be relinquished to MCO, to reduce the burden of the amount you have to pay.

Responses to publication

The Director General disclosed that since the publication, the Cadastral Office has been receiving responses from various companies. “Some told us why they could not mobilise to site; some who have not paid their annual service fees are rushing to pay. We have already set up a committee to look at all these responses and then come up with a report that will be submitted to the Minister.

“We want investment, employment for the teeming youth, and revenue will accrue to government. If we give you a licence and you keep it, what good is it to you and to the nation?”