The Federal Government on Thursday raised royalties by 100 percent and also introduced new rates and charges for mining licences and others.

Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja.

According to Alake, “We are taking a major step in the efforts to implement the seven-point agenda to position the sector for economic consolidation and international competitiveness by announcing a new regime of rates and charges for various services of the departments and agencies of the ministry.

“This is in view of the introduction of qualitative measures and human and technological capacity upgrades implemented in recent times to raise the level of technical efficiency of the services, improve the traffic of transactions and develop infrastructures to cope with the resurgence of business interests in the sector.”

The minister said there were 268 items in the rates regime, and highlighted the major increases as follows:

“Applicants for Mining Lease will pay N3million; Reconnaissance Permit, N300,000; Exploration Licence, N600,000; Small Scale Mining Licence, N300,000; Quarry Lease N600,000, and Water User Permit, N300,000

“Annual Service Fee now N31,500 per Cadastral Unit for the first time, Small-Scale Mining. N260,000; Quarry Lease, N500,000, Mining Lease, N1,250,000.” He added.

The minister also unveiled penalties for late renewal of mineral titles as follows: Reconnaissance Permit will attract N600,000, Exploration Licence, N1,500,000; Mining Lease, N3,000,000, and Quarry Lease, N1,500,000.

He further informed that the royalty rate per standard weight of minerals would now cost 100 percent more. Baryte, with N42,000 as a market value per tonne attracts N2,100 royalty; Coal, with a 100,000-tonne market value, attracts N3,000; Gold, with N1,081,200 per ounce as a market value, attracts N36,436 royalty per tonne; Lead/Zinc concentrate with 480,000 per tonne as market value attracts a royalty of N14,400 per tonne. Lithium Ore (lepidolite) at the current market value of N600,000 per tonne, attracts N18,000 royalty per tonne; Lithium (kunzite) with a current market value of a million per tonne, attracts N90,000 royalty per tonne and Lithium ore, (spodumene)with a current market value of N316,667 per tonne attracts N9,500 royalty per tonne.

Licence to manufacture explosives now costs N20 million, modifying explosives, N10 million and the sale of explosives for mining, N500,000.

He added that investors willing to obtain a licence to refine gold will pay N5 million while a permit to operate a mineral processor costs N100,000. Mineral resources map of Nigeria will cost N500,000 and the geological map of Nigeria now costs N300,000.

Speaking on the successes recorded since coming into office, Alake informed that the mining cadastral office, the agency responsible for licensing, which acquired the new mining information system, the EMC+ portal has enabled 24-hour application and administration system that accelerated the rate of applications and access of applicants to the MCO.

He added that the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency acquired an integrated geological database available and accessible to the public. This facility, known as the data centre, has made the acquisition of geological information easier for companies embarking on exploration among others