₦airaland Forum

What looks like illegal mining of various aspects of
solid minerals in the parts of the country has been
costing the government an average of $500 million
yearly in the past five years, according to
investigation. Among the states where such activities have been
going for years include: Ebonyi, Zamfara, Benue
and Plateau. Our sources say in most of the places where the
minerals are discovered, foreigners, working with
the locals carry on physical activities leading to
mining the mineral. While several methods are adopted for proper
extracting the real material, local sieving
approaches are deployed. Some of the solid minerals said to be unofficially
exploited are lead, Aluminum, gold, tin ore and
bauxite. In Ebony State for instance, locations where the
activities are taking place abound. The business
thrives, based on the ignorance of the locals, who
hardly identify values of the substance that they
find within their farms and other locations. In Ebonyi State alone, Lead and Aluminum are
found in abundance, untapped, while them ones
already being mined is said to worth several
millions of dollars. Also in Zamfara State, raw gold is found in
abundance, while in Benue and Plateau states,
there are many sites where minerals are found by
the locals too. Some of them are said to be tin ore,
zinc and bauxite. “I was one of those who escorted the foreign miner
to Ikwo, Izzi, Afikpo and other villages near
Abakaliki in Ebonyi State where every nook and
cranny have deposits of lead and aluminum. They
are being mined in small volume, recalls Onu Ali, a
middle aged, discloses to e-Magazine team. He further narrates how he took the foreigner and
his company, which ahs the franchise to mine the
mineral solicited the support of the locals, most of
who are not aware of what name the mineral go for
not their monetary values. Ebonyi mining site “They were seen digging out the soil that has
missed colours and other substances from the
banks of the rivers and their farmlands until we
arrived. “We later hired them (the villagers) to lead us to the
particular place that they have found the ‘strange’
items mixed with the earth. There, we found
several sites and later took sample to the
headquarters of the company in Port Harcourt
(Rivers State).” He says the firm, after some weeks came back with
caterpillars and other equipment to get the work
going. But when contacted, an official of Ministry of Mines
and Mineral, who pleaded for anonymity says there
is yet to be any information confirming that some
unauthorized mining is taking place in any part of
the country. According to him, there has been a number of
research works on availability of solid mineral in
the country. “It is not true that the ministry is unaware of
existence of various solid minerals, but there is a
concerted effort to have them licenced for
exploration,” the official maintains. However, there has been a debate on how
government could diversify its oil dependence on
mainly oil using the solid minerals. According to Mr. Gilbert Sochi, a geologist:“If the
solid minerals in this country are fully explored and
exploited, the economy could garner more than $3
billion every year.”

http://www.e-magazine-voice.com/illegal-mining-nigeria-loses-1bn-ebony-state-tops-list/comment-page-34/

MINING SITES IN EBONYI

ok

And some people will keep on Deceiving some people... That we want there oil.. .. Smh
... the fact remains that in all Nigeria... South south has the least resources but the easiest to make money from...

Diversifyi d Econom Econom Econom Must...
2016 budget covers that by the way

If only the oil will just dry up now, then we will be serious with diversifying our economy. Only then shall we be free from our economic troubles and compet with the rest of the world.

Isn't it the useless unimaginative Governors we have? All they know is to sit on their fat arsses, answer 'your excellency sir', and wait for allocation from Abuja every month end!

The one of Ebony is more frustrating and annoying for me seeing as they could easily become the wealthiest State in the South East!

wachakuta:
Diversifyi d Econom Econom Econom Must... 2016 budget covers that by the way

Are you a stammerer?