25+ Lucrative Mining Business Ideas And Opportunities in Nigeria

The mining industry in Nigeria continues to grow and draw more media attention yearly. While accounting for just 0.3% of the country’s GDP, it remains a lucrative one, as the future holds even more prospects.

The greatly underdeveloped state of the mining industry causes Nigeria to import a bulk of her minerals, which could have been produced locally. Its neglect was largely caused by the discovery of oil in 1956. This affected the mineral extraction industries and caused the government’s focus to shift far off from mineral resources to oil & gas.

Many years have long passed and the value of different mineral resources have jumped several times more than they were years ago, thereby creating a very abundant, lucrative, and largely untapped market for people who love to exploit ignored business opportunities.

If you’re thinking of starting a business in the mining industry, here are 25+ mining business ideas and opportunities you can exploit:

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1). Gold Mining:

Gold deposits are largely found in the Northen parts of Nigeria. They can be found close to Maru, Anka, Malele, Tsohon Birnin Gwari-Kwaga, Gurmana, Bin Yauri, Okolom-Dogondaji, and Iperindo.

Ever since the Nigerian Mining Corporation (NMC) was set up during the 1980s to mine for Gold, the government’s preference for easy money from oil & gas caused a neglect in the corporation, leading to a lack of funds, till an eventual failure.

If you have the capacity to get investors for a gold mining corporation, its global demand and high-rise value makes it an opportunity to explore.

2). Coal Mining:

Nigeria has extremely large coal reserves estimated to be worth at least 2 billion metric tons. The country’s coal abundance, especially in areas like Enugu state, Anambra, Kogi, Delta, Gombe, and Benue, makes it another lucrative mining opportunity for deep-pocket individuals to venture into.

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3). Columbite Wolframite and Tantalite Mining:

Columbite Wolframite and Tantalite are used in the production of niobium and tantalum elements, which are also known as Coltan in Africa. They are also used as a source of precious stones like beryl, aquamarine, and tourmaline, and as such, makes it a highly valuable mineral.

4). Iron Ore Mining:

Over 3 billion tons of iron ore are found in Kogi, Enugu, Niger, Zamfara and Kaduna States. Despite this high figure, the large deposits of iron ores in Kogi and Enugu have not been fully explored.

Iron ore can be used in making steel, engineering works, transformers, motor cars, metals for electrical shielding, equipment racks, electromagnetic devices, electric bells, and several other products.

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5). Bitumen Mining:

Bitumen is another mineral resource, with Nigeria having an estimated 38 billion barrels of it and a minimum reserve of about 16 billion barrels in Ondo state alone. They are also known as oil sands, have not yet been exploited, and are said to be a future source of revenue for the Nigerian economy.

Most bitumen deposits are found in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, and Edo State.

6). Limestone Mining:

Limestones have a vast number of usages including but not limited to building materials, cement, glass, and to purify iron in blast furnaces. Its wide uses makes it a business opportunity to engage in.

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7). Lead/Zinc Mining:

It is estimated that Nigeria has over 10 million tons of lead and over 80,000 tons of Zinc spread across the country. They mostly occur together and are often linked to copper and silver.

Lead/Zinc can be used in ammunition, ceramics, television tubes, nuclear shields, and for so many other purposes, making its market demand sizeable.

8). Granite Mining:

Granite is a very hard stone that is used in building and construction works worldwide.It is a widely occurring rock and is distributed globally for various construction projects. It is available in Enugu, Ebonyi, Kogi, Plateau, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and more, making granite one of the most available and affordable building materials.

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9). Kaolin Mining:

Kaolin minerals, also known as clay minerals, is an industrial mineral that can be found in commercial quantities in Nigeria. It is estimated that Nigeria has over 2 billion metric tons of Kaolin spread across the country, including but not limited to areas like Ogun, Edo, Plateau and Nassarrawa States.Kaolins can either be sold raw or in processed forms.

Kaolins can either be sold raw or in processed forms.

10). Gemstone Mining:

Gemstones like sapphire, ruby, aquamarine, emerald, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, amethyst, zircon and much more, are available in large quantities in Nigeria. Paraiba tourmalines found in Oyo state, for instance, can sell for as high as $5,000 per karat, while a karat of Ruby could sell for as high as $10,000, depending on the quality.

The abundance of Gemstones in Nigeria makes it a lucrative business opportunity for prospective investors with deep pockets.

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11). Glass-Sand Mining:

Glass-Sand, also known as Silica Sand/Quartz, is widely used in industries and factories that manufacture glass. Some of the glasses they’re used to manufacture are sheet glasses for windows, bottles, mirrors, optical instruments, chemical apparatus, electrical insulation and condensers, pipe, doors, crucibles, automobile and aircraft bodies, filters and building blocks.

12). Haulage And Logistics:

This involves the transportation of minerals and products from mining sites to other locations. You can play different haulage roles in the mining industry, while building a wide network of organizations to serve.

See Also: 8 Ways to Reduce Transportation Costs in Nigeria — And Grow Your Profits

13). Safety Services:

Safety consultants ensure nothing goes wrong during a mining operation. They’re experts at what they do, and mining corporations hire them to provide safety services in their mines.

14). Blogging / Magazine:

Asides owning a mine, you can also start a blog or magazine that focuses exclusively on mineral resources. Here you could talk about the industry opportunities, trends, news, job openings, and a whole lot more.

See Also: How To Start A Blog — The Complete Beginner Guide

15). Mining Training Institute:

Another way to venture into the industry is to start up a mining training institute. Here, you can run courses that focus on different parts of the industry, train potential engineers, and also groom prospective mining CEOs.

16). Mining Enterprise Software Applications:

You could build an enterprise software solution that makes the operations of running a mine easier for the management. This solution could further be licensed to various mines or sold as a whole to companies.

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17). Equipment Sales:

Mines require large equipment to run. You could take advantage of this opportunity by venturing into the manufacturing, distribution, or sales of equipment and machinery required in mines.

18). Equipment Leasing:

While every equipment is essential, most mines cannot afford to purchase all the critical equipment, and in a bid to meet up with their operating capacity, they go on to lease equipment and machinery to run their operations.

With a substantial capital, you can purchase critical equipment specific to different mining sectors, and place them on a lease.

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19). Equipment Servicing:

This service is for engineers who have a wide understanding of how mining equipment work. If you’re not one, you can partner with some engineers to start up an equipment servicing company in the mining industry.

20). Waste Management:

You could start up a waste management company in the mining industry. An example is to run a coy that cleans gold dust from inside mine shafts.

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21). Mining Legal Services:

You could run a law firm that focuses heavily on the mining industry, and establish yourself as the go-to expert for any issues that arises in the industry.

23). Mining Consulting:

If you’ve worked in a mining corporation for many years, or know someone who has, you could partner up and launch a mining consulting business. By doing this, you’ll leverage the many years of experience either you or your partner has, and grow a successful business from it.

See Also: Starting A Consultancy Services Business? Here Are 10 Ways To Land Your First Client

24). Brokerage Services:

You could start a brokerage business, where you link buyers and sellers of mineral resources. An example would be to broker the sale of gold with international bullion banks and get a commission on every Karat sold.

See Also: The Ultimate Guide To Starting A Crude Oil Brokerage Business (Crude Oil Selling) In Nigeria And Africa

Some Other Business Ideas & Opportunities In The Mining Industry Are:

25). Mining Medical Services

26). Mining Recruitment Agency

27). Mining TV Show

28). Mining Radio Talk Show

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What are your thoughts on these 25+ mining business ideas and opportunities in Nigeria? Let me know by leaving a comment below.