By Adedapo Adesanya
Setting up a lucrative quarry mining business in Nigeria is not as difficult as many think it is. All it takes is following necessary, simple procedures outlined by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel.
Some of these steps have been outlined by specialists in quarry mining for would-be artisinal miner.
The first step in quarry mining is identification of a potential mining site. This is the major resource location, it is where resources are mined.
With the identification done, the potential artisinal miner has to conduct a market analysis. This is to understand and determine if the site will be economically viable. Market analysis consider accessibility to raw materials, proximity to potential customers, cost of transportation among other considerations.
The next step is checking if the mining site is unattached. Here, the potential investor sends the coordinates of the site to the Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) located in Abuja F.C.T. to check if the site is available or does not overlap with another site.
If the mining site is not attached, the entrepreneur applies for a quarry lease from the MCO. With that granted, he then assesses the financial implications of the business. Here, he asks if his capital can fund the business alone or does he need investors by forming a cooperative registered with the Chambers of Commerce or the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC)?
With that done, the cooperative is also registered with the Artisinal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) Department under the Ministry of Mines and Steel Department. The cooperative will then conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the site.
That done, the community that the mining site is located has to grant the artisinal miner/cooperative consent so it can perform mining activities. This is under the consideration of the Community Development Agreement (CDA).
Production can then start after these processes have been done and dusted by the intending quarry entrepreneur.
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