ABUJA — No fewer than 500 mining licences of the 1,400 issued in 2015 are to be revoked, Director General, Mining Cadestre Office, NMCO, Mohammed Amate, has said.

According to him, the revocation of the licences is based on non-compliance with the provision of the 2007 mining laws of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.

Minister of Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi

He said the licence owners committed offences that warranted the office to come up with a revocation plan, adding that some of the offences range from illegal operations to not using the document for the actual purposes they were granted.

According to Amate: “Some of them got mining licences for mineral exploration but not for extracting or mining minerals; some acquired licences but refused to mine due to economic circumstances.”

He said the office had written to them late 2015 and gave them 30 days to comply with the provision of the law or lose their licences.

He said NMCO had five categories of licences that mining companies could apply, such as Miners Reconnaissance Permit, which gives companies the power to sample minerals anywhere in the country without mining.

According to him, exploration licence helps companies to carry out a detailed exploration of minerals of their choices and it is for the period of three years, and can be renewed twice for two years.

“Companies that are granted exploration licence can only take sample of minerals for analysis, just for conviction that they are minerals that worth mining, both in quality and quantity.

“Exploration is not a licence for mining minerals; if a company is convinced with the exploration conducted, it can then apply for a mining lease.
“Mining lease is a licence that can be granted for 25 years and once it is granted then extraction of minerals can commence,” he said.
Amate said Small Scale Mining Lease (SSML) was another licence meant for those with little capacity to mine in small areas with little explosive and equipment.
He said Quarry Lease could be used for extracting granites, sands and limestones, explaining that the five licences could be obtained by a Nigerian with legal capacity who had not been convicted of a criminal offence and with adequate financial and technical capacity.
He also said any company seeking for licence should be a tax payer and registered company with adequate personnel to conduct mining activities.