WHAT ARE MINERAL RESOURCES?

WHAT ARE MINERAL RESOURCES?

Mineral Resources are pure inorganic substance that occurs naturally in the earth’s crust. All of the Earth’s crust, except the rather small proportion of the crust that contains organic material, is made up of minerals. Some minerals consist of a single element such as gold, silver, diamond (carbon), and sulphur.

Minerals are valuable natural resources being finite and non-renewable. They constitute the vital raw materials for many basic industries and are a major resource for development.

MINERAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA AND THEIR LOCATIONS

Adamawa State

Kaolin, Bentonite, Gypsum and Magnesite

Akwa Ibom State

Lead/Zinc, Clay and Limestone

Anambra State

Lead/Zinc

Bayelsa State

Clay and Manganese

Benue State

Lead/Zinc, Limestone and Salt

Delta State

Marble, Glass Sand and Gypsum 

Ebonyi State

Lead and Gold shocked

Edo State

Marble and Lignite

Ekiti State

Kaolin and Feldspar

Lagos State

Glass-sand, Clay and Bitumen          

MINERAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA AND THEIR IMPORTANCE

1. CRUDE OIL: Nigeria is the largest oil producing country in Africa. According to proven oil and gas reserves, our country has 23 billion barrels of crude oil and 160 trillion cubic meters of gas according to nigeria.gov.ng. The major part of oil deposits is situated in the Delta basin in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers states. The deposits are multi-layered. The depth of productive layers on land is 1500 - 2000 m and on the shelf is 2500-3600 m. are multi-layer, the depth of productive strata on land is 1500-2000 m, on the shelf - 2500-3600 m. Many oil deposits have gas caps. Nigerian oil is low-sulfur with high paraffin content. Its gravity is 36 API for light types and 20-23 API for medium and heavy types. Crude oil provides the lion's share of Nigeria revenues.

2. TALC: Nigeria has more than 40 million tones of talc deposits. They are situated in Niger, Osun, Kogi, Ogun and Kaduna states. The talc industry produces 3 thousand tons of talk a year. Talc is used in one of the most diverse branches of industrial minerals in the world. The extraction of huge talc deposits can satisfy local and export needs.

3. GYPSUM: Gypsum has great importance in cement manufacturing. It is also used for other demands. At present, cement production is 8 million tons a year when Nigerian demand is 9.6 million tons. We need to increase the capacity to meet our needs. Approximately, one billion tons of gypsum deposits lie in many Nigerian states.

4. IRON ORE: The country owns more than 3 billion metric tons of iron ore deposits in Kogi, Enugu and Niger States and the Federal Capital Territory. Iron ore mining carries out at Itakpe (Kogi state), and we receive up to 67 percent of iron.

5. LEAD AND ZINC: About 10 million tons of lead and zinc deposits are situated in eight Nigerian states. The proven reserves include 5 million tons. Lead and zinc deposits can be used both for local needs and for export.

6. BENTONITE AND BARYTE: These minerals are the main components of the drilling fluid for all types of oil wells. The baryte mined in Nigeria has special gravity 4.3. More than 7.5 million tons of baryte have been found in Taraba and Bauchi states. Huge bentonite deposits of 700 million tons are situated in many states of Nigeria and can be massively developed and exploited.

7. GOLD : Gold is the 3rd most precious metal in the world. Nigeria has proven deposits of both alluvial and primary gold in the shale belt of the country. It is situated in the south-western part of the country. The reserves are mainly alluvial and today are being extracted in small quantities.

8. GEMSTONES: Gemstones are mined in different parts of Plateau, Kaduna and Bauchi states for many years. Among them there are sapphire ruby aquamarine emerald tourmaline topaz garnet amethyst zircon fluorspar Gem mining in Nigeria is an up-and-coming industry and requires significant investment. Precious gems always were and will be highly appreciated in the whole world.