FG to close down lawbreaking mining firms

Mining or quarry firms that do not operate in accordance with the Nigerian Minerals and Metals Act of 2007 will be closed down, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Mohammed Sada, has said.

Sada was speaking while receiving the 2013 Annual Report and Audited Accounts of the Council of Nigeria Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), delivered by chairman of the council, Chief Chambers Oyibo, who led other council members to the ministry.

According to Mr. Marshal Gundu, the ministry’s deputy director of press, the minister is determined to ensure strict compliance with rules and other extant mining laws, such as that of the COMEG.

He disclosed that after the last audit exercise, more than 600 mining licences were revoked by the federal government due to non-compliance with the relevant laws guiding mining operations in the country.

The minister expressed his pleasure with receiving the reports from COMEG, which he described as a strong institution that gives strength to the nation’s extractive industries.

Sada commended the initiative of COMEG in relation to the issuance of practising licences to its financial members as well as capacity training.

He said the present administration recognised the need for human capital development as one of the requirements of the extractive industries.

“No matter how rich a country is in mineral resources, if it doesn’t have the right human skills, the country will not develop,” he said.

“The country needs the right knowledge and idea for the minerals and metals sector to develop optimally.”

The COMEG Chairman, Oyibo, said the 2013 report was in compliance with the provision of COMEG Act part (11) Financial Provision, Section 7(3).

He said the monitoring of mining professionals and operators in some geopolitical zones of the country was carried out to sensitise them on the need to register with COMEG.

“The exercise revealed that most mining companies have not registered with COMEG as a corporate body and do not have COMEG registered mining professionals in their employment,” he observed.

“The council had also commenced the issuance of practising licences to financial members in order to ensure compliance with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations of COMEG.”