Akwa Ibom Govt closes down illegal mining coy

The Akwa Ibom Government has closed down a Chinese mining firm, Ruitai Mining Company, for failing to produce an operation licence.

Chief Uno Etim Eno, the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, said this when he briefed newsmen in Uyo.

Eno said that the firm could not provide authorization documents for titanium ore mining in the Ibeno community of the state.

He said that the company had been mining titanium ore quietly in the area before it was intercepted and ordered to produce relevant documents.

He added that during inspection, it was discovered that the firm could not produce a mining licence or an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to show impact of its operations on the host community.

“The joint ministerial inspection team, which included the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Iquo Abia, on arrival at the Ibeno community, was conducted around the mining site by the Chairman of Ibeno Local Government Area, High Chief Williams Mkpa.

“The team discovered black clay-like minerals contained in sacks of 50kg, which were identified by the miners as titanium ore.

“On critical examination of the site amidst tight security, the Managing Director and Director of the Company, Zeng Zhonghuan and Huang Ying, were not available at the site. The available staff members could not provide any information or documents,” Uno said.

Uno said that the Ministry of Environment discovered that the company was purely an exploration company, while the Board of Directors were all Chinese nationalswho were not eligible to acquire the small-scale mining licence as claimed.

“Ruitai Mining Company should terminate its mining operations forthwith until due clearance legitimising its operation is completed with the state government,” he said.