FG Hikes Mining Permit Fees to Boost Sector Efficiency

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The federal government has announced increases in the prices of various mining permits and services, effective immediately, as part of a broader strategy to enhance the sector’s economic consolidation and international competitiveness. 

Mining leases will now cost N3 million, reconnaissance permits N300,000, exploration licenses N600,000, small-scale mining licenses N300,000, quarry leases N600,000, and water user permits N300,000.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, highlighted these adjustments as a crucial step in implementing the ministry’s seven-point agenda, yesterday in Abuja. 

He stated, “Today, we are taking a major step in the efforts to implement the seven-point agenda to position the sector for economic consolidation and international competitiveness by announcing a new regime of rates and charges for various services of the departments and agencies of the ministry.”

Additionally, annual service fees have been revised: Cadastral units: N31,500, Small-scale mining: N260,000, Quarry leases: N500,000, Mining leases: N1.25 million.

Penalties for late renewal of mineral titles have also increased, with reconnaissance permits now at N600,000 and mining leases at N3 million.

Furthermore, royalty rates per standard weight of minerals have doubled, affecting resources like gold, lithium, coal, and lead/zinc concentrate.

Alake explained that these new rates reflect recent improvements in service efficiency and infrastructure, such as the acquisition of the EMC+ Portal by the Mining Cadastral Office, enabling a 24-hour application system, and the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency’s new integrated geological database.

He emphasized the fairness of the new rates, stating, “Since the activation of these systems, all the stakeholders in the mining sector have been enjoying the improved services but at the rates in force before the services were provided.

“It is therefore equitable that those who use these services to invest in the mining sector and make profits from it should be on the frontlines of the government’s efforts to recoup rather than pass it to poor Nigerians.”