The Miners Association of Nigeria, MAN, has disclosed that out of the 384 licensed miners in Nasarawa State, only 28 are active in the state.
The state chapter chairman of the association, Yusuf Abdullahi, made the disclosure during a capacity building workshop organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, in Lafia, the state capital.
According to him, the 356 non-active licensed miners are causing a serious havoc to the sector.
Mr Dalhatu, who is also the Managing Director, Maifata Nigeria Limited, said that the non-active miners are posing challenges to the revenue generation in the state.
He, therefore, called for the revocation of all the licenses of non-active miners and speculators who according to him use their license for different purposes.
“Out of the 384 licensed miners in the state only 28 are active, leaving 356 non-actives and depriving the state of revenue generation.
“Those who left the site three years should be called upon and if they have no genuine case, the community should be allowed to take over the sites.
“Government should encourage the sector by ensuring that those with license move to site and began exploration not for just acquiring sake,” he pleased.
Speaking earlier, the RMRDC Director-General, Prof. Hussaini Ibrahim, disclosed that 80 percent of miners in the country are artisanal and small scale miners.
Mr Ibrahim said that the training was aimed at providing basic knowledge on geology and mining so as to create enabling environment for new technology to the miners.
