The Nigerian government has revoked 1,633 mining titles for failing to pay the annual service fees as required by law.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, made the announcement at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to Alake, the Mining Cadastral Office (MCO) started the revocation process on October 4, after issuing a 30-day notice to the defaulting titleholders.
The notice was published in the Federal Government Gazette Number 178, Volume 110, on October 10.
The affected titles include 795 exploration titles, 956 small-scale mining licences, 364 quarry licences and 98 mining leases.
The minister said that only 580 titleholders paid their debts before the deadline of November 10, leaving 1,633 titles to be revoked.
Mr Alake said that he approved the revocation in line with the powers conferred on him by the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA) 2007, Section 5 (a).
He said that the revoked titles would be reallocated to more serious investors who are willing to comply with the law and contribute to the development of the mining sector.
He also warned the previous holders of the revoked titles to vacate the relevant cadasters immediately, adding that security agencies and the mines inspectorate of the ministry would enforce the revocation order.
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He said that any defaulter found in any areas where titles had been revoked would be arrested and prosecuted.
The minister said that it was unacceptable for corporate bodies making huge profits from mining to deny the government its due by failing to pay their annual service fee.
He said that the fee was very minimal compared to the revenue generated by the mining companies.
“For example, the holder of an exploration title pays only N1,500 per cadastral unit not exceeding 200 units. Those holding titles covering more than 200 units pay N2,000 per unit; in short, the larger the area your title covers, the more you pay,” he said.