Minimizing the Impact of Mining Activities for Sustainable Mined-Out Area Conservation In Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is endowed with abundant mineral resources. However, their extraction and processing through mining activities especially, of the solid minerals are going on at different scales of intensity. Some of these operations, and their negative impacts to the environment which include: land degradation, ecological disruption giving rise to air, land and water pollution and death of flora and fauna, etc often go on unchecked. These disturbing situations and means to minimize them have surprisingly not been taken seriously because of lack of regulatory implementation impetus or due to the little revenue accruing from these resources which is not even meaningful to be reflected in the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is in this regard, that the paper critically reviewed the state of mineral exploitation in Nigeria, its adverse effects on the environment and associated health hazards, including the strategies for hazard reduction, and conservation of mined-out areas. From this review study, it was feared that natural catastrophes such as earthquake and volcanic eruptions - occasioned by possible geomorphological and geostatic equilibrium destabilization may be imminent in the country as a result of these mining activities. It was therefore recommended that a holistic approach to evaluating hazards represented by different kinds of mine waste be put in place by adopting remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) in assessing environmental impact of mining and its new developments.

Keywords: Solid mineral, Impact assessment, Mined-out area utilization, Economic resources, Database creation and Environmental sustainability