Government uncovers 1,759 illegal mining sites

The Federal Government says it has uncovered a total of 1,759 artisanal and small-scale mining sites across the country.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, who disclosed this yesterday, at the National Council meeting on mining and mineral resources development, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, said the government has already formalised the registration of 1,346 operators into cooperative groups for easy management, to enable them to have access to financial support and market.

Adegbite explained that the policy is indeed an instrument of poverty alleviation, empowerment and job creation drive, to scale up their operations into small firms, operating with valid mineral titles.

He further said that under the scheme, miners could access between N100, 000 to N10m at a concessionary rate of five per cent through the Bank of Industry (BoI), adding: “We are working to remove bottlenecks in getting the loan facility.”