Nigeria Content Online

The Federal
Government is working towards issuing a harmonised minerals and mining
regulations law for the country before the end of the year, the
minister of mines and steel development, Musa Sada, has said.

Mr. Sada said
yesterday at a forum on the draft Minerals and Mining Regulations in
Abuja that this is part of the ongoing reform initiative by the
government to create a conducive environment necessary for the
development of the nation’s solid mineral resources.

The forum was to
provide the opportunity to review the draft document and make inputs
that would assist the ministry produce a final draft to be submitted to
the Ministry of Justice for vetting and its production for the
country’s mining industry.

Mr. Sada identified
a strong, consistent, and investor-friendly legal regulatory framework
based on international best practices as the anchor of the sector
reform, pointing out that this provided the guide to the decision by
the National Assembly to enact the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act
2007, signed into law in March of the same year.

Noting that the
legal framework for the mining industry would be incomplete without the
Minerals and Mining Regulations to give full effect to the Act, the
minister said the regulations are required to spell out in precise
terms the modalities for its enforcement as well as the procedures
mining operators have to follow in procuring minerals titles, licences
and permits for mining purposes.

Past efforts to
regulate operations in the industry, the minister pointed out, led to
the production of several versions of the draft document, saying the
ministerial committee constituted by government last July to study and
harmonise the different versions was an attempt to ensure that they
conformed to the provisions of the Act.

The ministerial
committee last October submitted the draft copy of the regulations,
categorised in chapters based on the relevant official technical
departments, including general provisions, mining cadastre, mines
inspectorate, mines environment compliance as well as artisanal and
small scale mining.

The regulations,
which define the rules and processes for giving full effect to the
effective implementation of the Act, provide for the procedures and
processes for exploration and mining operations, including the
acquisition of titles as well measures to enhance the general
protection of the mining environment and safety of workers in mining
operations.