924 inactive mineral licences have been withdrawn by the Federal Government via the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Development and Minerals, revealed this information on Wednesday in an Abuja press conference.
There are 273 small-scale mining licences, 101 quarry licences, 20 mining leases, and 528 exploration licences among the revoked permits.
November of last year saw the ministry withdraw 1,633 mineral titles that had been issued to mining corporations that had not complied.
In order to make the solid minerals industry more competitive internationally, the minister also pledged to clean it up and asked all parties involved to start acting morally again.
But speaking at the briefing, Alake said the ministry decided after identifying a problem of licence racketeering among players in the sector.
He said, “In line with constitutional provisions, we ensured that adequate notice was given to the concerned parties through the official gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria no 227 which was published on December 27, 2023.
“This notice gave all concerned parties 30 days to regularise their status including clarifications on what caused the licence to be dormant.
“In view of the above, which shows our adherence with due process and fair consideration and in line with the standard policy of use it or lose it, I hereby revoke the 924 dormant licences with immediate effect.
“These include 528 exploration licences, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licences and 273 small-scale mining licences.”
