Solid Minerals
Illegal Mine Workers Refuse Rescue From Abandoned Mine
JOHANNESBURG — Three illegal mine workers came up from an abandoned mine early Monday but scores of others refused, after a rescue operation started over the weekend to free those trapped underground.
More than 200 illegal miners are believed to be in the abandoned mine, many of them apparently fearing arrest if they come out. The situation has created a tense standoff between the miners below ground and the emergency workers and police trying to rescue them.
Emergency rescue service company ER24 said Sunday that police discovered the men stuck underground in an old ventilation tunnel after the police heard shouts during a patrol of the area, located east of Johannesburg near the area of Benoni. The emergency rescuers were able to open a hole to free the men, who said there were about 30 people near the surface and another 200 men further down. The rescue services haven’t been able to confirm the numbers. Large equipment was used to move boulders blocking a route underground.
As the men were brought to the surface, police arrested them for illegal mining and those who remained underground then refused to come out. ER24 spokesman Werner Vermaak said the men could survive another two days underground but then would need to find access to food and water. Those who were brought to the surface late Sunday were in good health, he said.
The abandoned ventilation shaft is owned by Gold One International GLDZY +4.49% Ltd. The company has the right to prospect for gold in the area, but had sealed off the ventilation shaft with a cement slab. Gold One spokesman Grant Stuart said illegal miners dug a hold around the cement slab, which had collapsed behind them. Mr. Stuart said two more of the illegal miners had started to come up overnight but saw security and went back underground.
Illegal mining in the area is rife and extremely dangerous. “If they don’t go down our shaft, they will go down other shafts,” said Mr. Stuart.
South Africa, once the world’s largest gold producer, has shut many old mines around Johannesburg. Illegal mining has increased at abandoned gold mines near Johannesburg, the Department of Mineral Resources said in September. In 2010, South Africa’s minister of mineral resources, Susan Shabangu , estimated the country loses around 5.6 billion rand ($516 million) a year due to illegal mining and she has launched a committee to look into how to reduce illegal mining.
The illegal mining deaths Sunday are the most since 2009, when 82 people died after a fire broke out at an unused Harmony Gold Mining Co. mine.
South Africa isn’t the only country where illegal gold mining is a problem. People prospect for gold at mines in Ghana and the Congo. In South Africa, it is particularly dangerous because the abandoned mines are deep, going underground in some cases for hundreds of feet. Because the mines are no longer in use, the old shafts aren’t monitored. Many groups of illegal miners also sneak into operational mines, posing a risk to company employees.
In 2010, Ms. Shabangu said illegal mining by criminal syndicates made it hard to eradicate the problem.
– MARKET WATCH
The Nigerian Government has threatened to come down heavily on foreigners sponsoring bandictory as a way of sustaining illegal mining activities in parts of the country.
The warning was handed down in Abuja by Minister, Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake, while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria-China Chamber of Mines led by its National President, Dr. Olugbenga Ajala.
Details of these were contained in a statement released by Head, Press & PR, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Alaba Balogun over the weekend.
The statement cited, Dr Alake, thus, “The government will come down firmly on these unscrupulous foreign operators sponsoring banditry to perpetrate illegal mining: let me use this medium to appeal through you to tell those sponsors to desist or face the full wrath of the law.”
According to Dr Alake, the Ministry is committed to establishing a multi-agency task force that will end the activities of illegal miners and their collaborators.
The Minster made it clear that the FG had given illegal miners a 30-day-ultimatum to legitimise their businesses, quit Nigeria or incur the wrath of the law.
According to him, this will help “to streamline and structure the Small-Scale Artisanal Miners for maximum yield to the Federal Government.”
The delegation paid a courtesy call on the Minsiter at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
By Edozie Obasi-Eze
Amidst heightening uncertainties in the domestic petroleum products market characterised by scarcity and irregular pricing, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has declared that there’s no intention to review pump prices upwards.
This was contained in an advisory issued by General Manager, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Kimchi Apollo.
He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) had imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days.
In an attempt to address panic buying and speculations which have seen price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) oscillate between N180-N250 in the Lagos area, Apollo assured that there was enough quantity of the product in the country already.
He said, “Consequently, marketers and the general public are advised to avoid panic buying, diversion of products and hoarding.
“In keeping with the Authority’s responsibilities as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Authority assures the public that it would continue to monitor the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, especially during this holiday season.”
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) says it is verifying and reconciling revenue collections in the Solid Minerals Sector of the economy.
The Federal Commissioner, RMAFC, Chief Tokunbo Ajasin, stated this at a strategic meeting on the commission’s 2022 nationwide monitoring of revenue collections of the Nigerian mining sector in Akure on Monday at the state Ministry of Finance Conference Hall.
This is contained in a statement by Mr Banjo Egunjobi, the Head of Media Unit of the ministry.
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Ajasin said 25 enterprises exported minerals in 2019 with no record of royalty payment, while about N2.76 billion outstanding liabilities had been established against 2,119 mining companies nationwide.
He said that this arose from failure to pay the Annual Service Fees for their company titles.
According to the Federal Commissioner, the Commission is empowered to monitor all revenue accruals from the extractive industries to ensure prompt and accurate remittances to the Federation Accounts.
He added that the monitoring was a follow-up on the 2016 exercise to assess the challenges hindering optimum revenue collection from the sector.
Ajasin said the monitoring comprised revenue collections and the activities of miners in the state.
According to him, the major issues of concern to the Commission is the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparent Initiative NEITI 2020 report.
He added that the number of defaulting companies would be determined after engagements.
“There is also the issue of underpayment of royalty by 25 enterprises that exported minerals in 2019 with no record of royalty payments.
“These companies owe the government about N482 million in overdue royalty.
He said the 2,119 mining companies’ default nationwide arose from the failure to pay the annual service fees for their respective mineral titles.
Ajasin also said the Commission’s mandate in the extractive sector was to recover the established liabilities owed to the Federation Account.
He, therefore, urged participants to explore the opportunities in the state to harness the revenue potential in the Solid Minerals sector to boost Internally Generated Revenue.
The State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Wale Akinterinwa, stated that the process of allocating the 13 per cent derivation on crude oil paid to the states across the federation depended on the effective monitoring of revenue and the collection of established liabilities from mineral resources.
Akinterinwa noted that the cooperation given by the state Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources and others to enforce payment of the reported liabilities would assist in fulfilling the objectives of the exercise and a means of engaging some Strategic Revenue Drive for the state.
The commissioner said the present administration of Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu would do everything at its disposal to facilitate the collection of revenue as listed in the NEITI Audit Report 2022.
He, therefore, urged stakeholders to accord full cooperation to the RMAFC team and be committed to achieving the desired goal.
Also the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Rev. Jide Ekpobomini, said sourcing for a quick alternative to all income was necessary and could not be overemphasised.
He said government revenue inflows would surely be boosted if the sector was vigorously harnessed.
Also his counterpart from Ministry of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources, Mr Wemimo Ogunsanmi, said the state government had initiated a strategic mineral development plan to exploit the solid minerals sector, hence the establishment of the ministry.
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