Mineral Resources In Nigeria And All The Important Information About Them

A mineral resource is a substance of economic interest found in or on earth crust in certain amount and of a particular quality. They are materials of interest used as raw materials of other products. Examples include Gold, Bitumen, Coal, Iron Ore, Uranium, Lead, Gemstones, Aggregates, Rock Salt, Copper, Diamond etc.

 

Nigeria as a country is blessed with lots of natural resources scattered across different states in varying amounts. Some are already being excavated for import, use and trade. There are some that are still untapped while we still believe that there are lots more that are yet to be discovered. Examples of some mineral resources found in Nigeria are Gold, Rock Salt, Gypsum, Gemstones, Crude oil, Coal, Talc, Bitumen, Lead, Iron Ore etc. Below are mineral resources found in appreciable amount in Nigeria.

 

List Of Top Nigeria Mineral Resources

Crude Oil

This is one of the major mineral resources in Nigeria at the moment. In fact, the Nigeria economy depends so much on it. It was first discovered in 1959 in Bayelsa State. It is now being extracted in 8 states which are Delta, Abia, Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Ondo. Over 2 million barrels of crude oil is said to be produced per day while the gas reserves is said to be about 160 Trillion cubic meters. This a major source revenue for Nigeria at the moment.

 

Bitumen

This mineral resource was first excavated in 1905 following its discovery in 1990. The Bitumen reserve in Nigeria is said to be about 42 billion tonnes. It can be found in states like Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, and Edo State. It is majorly used in road construction.

 

Gold

This mineral resource is much available in Nigeria although it is not really exploited. It is also a good source revenue all over the world. It can be found in Nigeria in states like Sokoto, Osun, Zamfara, Oyo, Niger, Edo,  Kwara, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Kebbi, and Bauchi. It is used in the production of Jewelleries.

 

Gemstones

Gemstones are important mineral resources in Nigeria because some of our gemstones are regarded as best in the world. They are found and exploited in states like Bauchi, Kaduna and Plateau. The gemstones include sapphire, emerald, ruby, garnet, aquamarine, topaz, tourmaline, amethyst etc.

 

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Coal

This was discovered in 1909 but was first explored in 1916. This resource is no longer in use in Nigeria probably the reason it was abandoned. About 17 mining fields were said to contain 3 billion tonnes which was not well exploited. It can be found in states like Enugu, Nasarawa, Plateau, Ondo, Benue, and Zamfara.

 

Iron Ore

This is another mineral resource that was discovered in large quantity in Nigeria. A national body was instituted to explore over 3 billion metric tonnes of this resource that was discovered for the two steel companies in Nigeria in Ajaokuta and Delta state but they all failed. The states in which it was found include Enugu, Kogi, Niger and Abuja.

 

Lead

This is a mineral resource that is present in lots of states in Nigeria. A reserve of 10 million tonnes is said to be available in Abia, Enugu, Kano, Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Benue, Plateau, Cross River, Niger and Taraba. There are also untapped Lead reserves in some places in the east central estimated to be about 5 million tonnes.

 

Rock Salt

This is one of the highly demanded mineral resources because of its high demand. It is used in wide variety of ways. A 1.5 metric million tonnes is said to be available in the country. It is used to produce a number of products like hydrogen peroxide, table salt, caustic soda etc.

With these and other resources, Nigeria as a country can generate lots of revenue for the nation.