NBS: Nigeria recorded 64m tons of mineral production in 2020 — up by 18% in one year

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria produced 64,286,308.01 tons of solid mineral resources in 2020.

The NBS disclosed this in its latest report titled “Mineral production statistics 2019-2020,” released on Monday.

According to the report, this is a 17.95 percent increase compared to 2019 with 54,505,048.23 tons, indicating an improvement in production.

The report noted that the mining and quarrying sector is a vital sector that should be tapped into for growth in Nigeria.

“The Mining and Quarrying sector is crucial to growth in Nigeria considering the potential to export mineral resources to the rest of the world and the drive for diversification,” the report reads.

“Essentially, Nigeria is said to be endowed with over forty (40) types of minerals including marble, coal, iron ore, gold, silica, lead, zinc, tin ore, manganese, granite, laterite, limestone, etc.”

According to the NBS, Kogi State (12.5 million tons), Ogun State (12.1 million tons), and Cross River State (8.9 million tons) were the top three states with the largest share of production in 2020.

Borno is the least producing state with 5,060 tons.

The NBS also disclosed that limestone, sand, and granite were the three most mined minerals in 2020, while limestone, granite, and laterite were the top biggest in 2019.

Market researchers at CSL said illegal mining activities have continued to wipe gains in the sector.

“Despite the endowment of mineral resources in Nigeria, the solid minerals sector has significantly underperformed with a meagre contribution of less than 1% to the GDP over the years (0.6% currently),” they said.

“The figure is, however, solely from formal channels as the artisanal and small-scale mining activities that constitute over 80% of the current mining activities in the country are unaccounted for.

“Also, illegal mining activities have continued unabated. The government launched the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) in 2019 to integrate artisanal and small-scale gold mining activities in the country and boost more accretion to foreign reserves.

“However, based on current realities, it does not appear that much has been gained.”