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Nigeria hopes gold mining reforms can bring in $500 mln a year

Published 16/07/2020, 15:42
© Reuters.

ABUJA, July 16 (Reuters) - Nigeria hopes changes it has made
to gold mining regulation will earn the government $500 million
a year in royalties and taxes and create 250,000 jobs, President
Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday.
The reforms have made artisanal mining legal and will create
gold buying centres and tax trade of the precious metal, Buhari
said in a statement.
"These operations will help in diversifying our revenue
base," said Buhari.
Nigerian authorities have said illegal mining, prominent in
the northwest, has fuelled widespread violence they attribute to
"bandits". Thousands of people have been killed in the region in
recent years and swathes of the region are inaccessible. The
military is deployed to tackle the insecurity but the conflict
shows little sign of ending.
The extra revenues from gold could be a lifeline as the
coronavirus pandemic and resulting global oil price crash cut
off much of the state's income.
Buhari said the country has lost a total of $3 billion from
2012 to 2018 because of illegal gold mining.
In February, Nigeria licensed two gold refineries mainly to
produce gold for the central bank to hold in its reserves but
also for export. The bank received its first locally-produced
gold bar on Thursday. Nigeria has largely untapped deposits of 44 minerals
including gold, iron ore, coal, tin and zinc, in more than 500
locations, but mining makes up just 0.3% of the economy.

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