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Toyin Adebayo
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has warned illegal miners to stop risking their lives by operating in abandoned mine pits without licences, following the death of seven persons in a collapsed tin mine at Kassa, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Alake, who described the tragedy as avoidable, said the victims could have secured legal permits and benefited from government training and support if they had organised themselves into a cooperative and obtained the necessary mining approval.
Reacting to the incident in a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Media, Lara Owoeye-Wise, the minister commiserated with the Plateau State Government and the families of the deceased, urging artisanal miners across the country to learn from the disaster.
He said: “The challenge before the state and the Federal Government is how to turn these potential pits of death into centres of joyful prosperity.”
According to Alake, Plateau State has more than 4,000 abandoned mine pits created by Amalgamated Tin Mines Limited and its successor companies, Consolidated Tin Mines Limited and Nigerian Tin and Allied Products Limited.
He therefore called on investors to partner with the government to transform the abandoned sites into productive assets, particularly for energy, tourism and fishery projects.
The minister said public-private partnerships remained the fastest and most proactive means of converting abandoned mining sites into economically viable ventures.
He disclosed that the ministry had already rehabilitated 59 abandoned mine pits as part of efforts to address the environmental and safety risks posed by legacy mining activities.
To further accelerate the reclamation process, Alake said the ministry had commenced a strategic initiative involving advanced GIS satellite mapping and Artificial Intelligence.
The initiative, being implemented through a public-private partnership with ImPPPact Nigeria Alliance and geomatics specialist Intomatics, will use Plateau State as a pilot to identify, accurately characterise and develop reclamation plans for thousands of abandoned tin pits.
He urged interested investors to contact the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office and the ministry’s Mines and Environmental Compliance Department, while also applying for funding through the Solid Minerals Development Fund.
Alake further disclosed that the Federal Government had activated the Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation Fund to prevent the recurrence of abandoned mine sites.
He said mining companies would soon be required to contribute to the fund, which would be used to rehabilitate mine pits where operators fail to undertake proper closure and reclamation.
His words: “Very soon, we shall conclude discussions with the fund managers. Thenceforth, mining companies must pay to the Fund so that it can rehabilitate mine pits if the companies don’t do so during closure.”
The minister said the government’s objective was to ensure that abandoned mining sites, instead of remaining death traps, become productive assets capable of generating jobs, investment and economic opportunities for local communities.
