Nigerian Mining Sector Brief - Fourth Edition, June 2024

1 Overview

Nigeria is endowed with vast reserves of natural resources such as energy minerals like coal and lithium, metallic minerals like gold and lead-zinc and industrial minerals like limestone and barite. The country was a major exporter of tin, columbite and coal in the 1960s to early 1970s. However, activities in this sector nose-dived considerably by the mid-1970s due to several political and economic factors, especially following the discovery of crude oil in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State. This discovery brought about a transformative era for Nigeria's economy and crude oil export become a major source of foreign exchange earnings for the country.

The significant export earnings from crude oil led to the neglect of the mining sector and the country became a mono-product economy, vulnerable to international oil politics and attendant uncertainty of export earnings. Successive Governments at the Federal level have demonstrated some level of commitment