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Departments
The Mining Cadastre Office (MCO)
The Mining Cadastre Office is the department within MMSD with the exclusive responsibility to: |
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receive and dispose of applications for the transfer, renewal, modification, relinquishment of mineral titles or extension of areas;
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maintain a chronological record of all applications for mineral titles. |
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MCO will address the issues of transparency in the grant/access to titles as well as deal with matters of overlapping titles.
MCO will begin processing applications on-line from the first quarter of 2006.
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The Mines Inspectorate Department (MID)
The Mines Inspectorate Department is the technical department of MMSD. The responsibilities of MID include:
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supervision of all reconnaissance, exploration and mining operations; |
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enforcement of all health and safety regulations as approved by law at Mines sites; |
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conducting of inspections and investigations necessary for ensuring compliance with applicable regulations. |
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The Mines Environment & Compliance Department
The Mines Environment & Compliance Department is responsible for: |
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reviewing all plans, studies and reports required from holders of mineral titles in respect of their environmental obligations; |
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monitoring and enforcing compliance by holders of mineral titles with all applicable environmental requirements and obligations; |
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performing periodic environmental audits to ascertain that all regulations and obligations are being met by mineral title holders. |
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Artisanal & Small Scale Mining Department
 The Artisanal & Small Scale Mining Department (ASM) monitors and oversees small scale mining activities in the country.
“ Artisanal mining” is defined (MMSD 2002) as “informal mining activities undertaken by individuals or groups, which rely heavily on manual labour, using simple implements and methods without prior exploration activities”. Many of such unskilled activities are illegal operations since they do not operate under licenses, as stipulated under Section 42 of the Minerals and Mining Act 34 of 1999.
Artisanal mining in Nigeria appears to be a direct consequence of widespread poverty, especially in the rural areas and the decline and mining industry in Nigeria since the 1970’s. ASM activities re-emerged as a result of dwindling oil revenue following the eventual fall in the price of crude oil in international market. Also, with the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Nigeria in the 1980s, a ready market was created for ASM products through export.
ASMs serve as pathfinders to the occurrence of minerals and can be used effectively to indicate areas of prospectivity. |
