Let’s explain this big news about the changes in the mining sector in Nigeria in a way that’s easy to understand, like telling a story to young children.
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The Nigerian Government has made new rules about how much money people must pay to do mining activities.
They are worried that some mining companies are not giving the government their fair share of the money they earn. These companies make a lot of money, but they forget to pay the government.
Dr. Dele Alake, who is in charge of the solid minerals, talked about this in a meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
He said these changes are part of a plan to make things better. The new rules will help provide better services, make more business happen, and improve the country’s infrastructure, like roads and buildings.
Dr. Alake said, “Today, we are making an important move to put our big plan into action.”
“We are introducing new costs for different services provided by the department and its agencies.”
“For example, we completed a project to support economic growth through the mining sector.”
He believes these new rules will make more people interested in mining and give investors confidence. He also said that the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency now has data available for everyone.
New Costs for Licenses
There is a list of new costs for 268 different items, which are too many to name one by one.
Dr. Alake said, “The companies that make money from mining should help the government instead of making ordinary Nigerians pay more.”
“To get an Exploration License, it costs N600,000 for the first 100 units.”
“This is to stop people from just guessing about where to mine and help the government get more funds to make doing business easier.”
There is now a yearly service fee of N31,500 for the first time.
“It also costs N260,000 for a Small Scale Mining License, N500,000 for a Quarry Lease, and N1,250,000 for companies with a Mining Lease. When these licenses are renewed, the fee will be N42,000.”
New Costs for Royalties
- Dr. Alake said the new rules are meant to get more money from important minerals like lithium and gold to help Nigeria’s economy grow.
- For example, if you have lithium ore lepidolite worth N600,000 per tonne, you must pay N18,000 per tonne in royalties.
- Kunzite, valued at N3 million per tonne, requires a royalty payment of N90,000 per tonne, while lithium ore spodumene, valued at N316,667 per tonne, has a royalty of N9,500 per tonne.
- The new rules will also affect the services offered by the Mining Cadastre Office and the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency.
- According to Dr. Alake, these changes start right away.
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I hope this makes the changes in the mining sector easy to understand!