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By Godswill Michael
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has warned illegal miners against operating in abandoned mine pits without licences, following the death of seven people in a collapsed pit in Kassa, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Alake, who described the incident as a tragic and avoidable loss, urged artisanal miners across the country to stop entering abandoned pits illegally and instead organise themselves into cooperatives and obtain the necessary permits to operate lawfully.
The minister in a statement on Sunday, called on investors to partner with the Federal Government to convert abandoned mine sites into productive ventures, including energy, tourism and fisheries projects.
Reacting to the Kassa tragedy in a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Media, Lara Owoeye-Wise, Alake said the miners could have avoided the fatal incident if they had obtained the appropriate permits.
He said licensed artisanal miners could access field training from the ministry’s Artisanal Mining Department while also creating a more sustainable source of income.
Alake urged artisanal miners nationwide to learn from the incident and avoid putting their lives at risk by extracting minerals from abandoned and potentially unstable pits.
He commiserated with the government and people of Plateau State over the deaths and prayed for the repose of the victims.
”The challenge before the state and the Federal Government is how to turn these potential pits of death into centres of joyful prosperity,” Alake said.
The minister disclosed that more than 4,000 mine pits exist across Plateau State, many of them dug by the former Amalgamated Tin Mines Limited and its successor companies, Consolidated Tin Mines Limited and Nigerian Tin and Allied Products Limited.
He said the large number of abandoned pits presented both an environmental and economic challenge, but could also provide opportunities for new investments if properly rehabilitated and repurposed.
Alake therefore invited private investors to collaborate with the government to transform the abandoned sites into commercially viable projects.
He said public-private sector collaboration offered “the most proactive and fastest approach” to converting the abandoned pits from dead assets into productive ventures.
According to him, the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has already rehabilitated 59 abandoned mine pits as part of efforts to address the dangers posed by legacy mining sites.
The ministry has also introduced technology-driven measures to identify and assess the thousands of abandoned pits.
Alake said the government had entered into a public-private partnership with ImPPPact Nigeria Alliance and geomatics specialist Intomatics to deploy advanced Geographic Information System satellite mapping and Artificial Intelligence.
He said Plateau State would serve as the pilot beneficiary of the initiative, which would help locate and accurately characterise legacy tin pits while developing workflows for their eventual reclamation.
The minister also directed interested investors to approach the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office and the ministry’s Mines and Environmental Compliance Department for relevant information and approvals.
He also encouraged investors to explore the Solid Minerals Development Fund’s funding programme.
Alake said the government was taking steps to ensure mining companies would not leave similar environmental liabilities behind after ending their operations.
He disclosed that he had pioneered the establishment of an Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation Fund by activating an existing constitutional provision.
”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,” Alake said.
The proposed mechanism is intended to make mining operators financially responsible for rehabilitating affected sites and prevent abandoned pits from becoming long-term hazards to surrounding communities.