The Nigerian government has revoked 1,263 mineral licences in a sweeping reform aimed at boosting investor confidence in the country’s solid minerals sector.
The move targets dormant and speculative operators while creating room for more committed investors.
According to the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, the affected licences are set for deletion from the Electronic Mining Cadastral System portal of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office (MCO).
They include 584 exploration licences, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licences, and 470 small-scale mining leases.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, announced the decision through his Special Assistant on Media, explaining that many licence holders failed to meet their annual service fee obligations.
Approving the MCO’s recommendation for revocation, Alake stressed that speculative practices were undermining Nigeria’s mining sector.
“The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder, while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites, is over. The annual service fee is the minimum evidence that you are interested in mining. You don’t have to wait for us to revoke the licence because the law allows you to return the license if you change your mind,” Alake said.
He also noted that revocation does not absolve defaulters of their outstanding fees.
The government plans to forward the list of defaulters to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities,” he added.
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This is not the first time Nigeria has taken such measures. In April 2024, the government revoked 924 dormant mining titles and immediately reallocated them to investors on a “first come, first served” basis.
That batch included 528 exploration licences, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licences, and 273 small-scale mining licences.
At the time, Alake said the move was aimed at curbing “licence racketeering,” a practice in which mineral titles are hoarded and then sold on a secondary market.
“By creating a secondary, black market to pawn mineral licences, the unsuspecting and unwary investor is misled into believing that he can only obtain licence by patronising the black market. This discourages investment,” he said.
“It is our belief that this decision will sanitise the licensing system by penalising those who have commercialized the opportunities offered by the sector into a bazaar,” Alake added.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, also holds significant deposits of minerals such as lithium, gold, and limestone.
The government is working to attract more investors to the mining sector by offering tax waivers, allowing full repatriation of profits, and enforcing stricter licensing rules that require local processing of extracted minerals.
With this latest action, the total number of mineral titles revoked under the current administration has risen to 3,794.
These include 619 cancelled for failure to pay annual service fees and 912 revoked for dormancy last year.
By clearing out speculative holders, the government hopes to open opportunities for new exploration and production in mineral-rich regions with high commercial potential.
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Image Credit: Nairametrics
