History of Tantalite Mining and Its Economic Importance in the Jos Plateau

History of Tantalite Mining and Its Economic Importance in the Jos Plateau

Chapter One

Objectives of the Study

General Objective

The general objective of the study is to assess the socio-economic impacts of tantalite mining in Jos LGA of the Northern Region of Nigeria.

Specific Objective

The specific objectives were to:

Examine people‟ ‘s perception of the impacts of tantalite mining on their socio-economic activities;

Assess the impact of tantalite mining (duration after tantalite pit abandonment) on above-ground vegetation biomass; and
Assess major soil physicochemical property changes of abandoned tantalite mines.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Historical background of Jos:

The town was not founded until the twentieth century. Different versions of interpretation have been put forward as regard the origin of Jos. But the Afuzare or Jarawa settlement at Guash seems to be the most acceptable version. Between 1800 and 1900 there was an important settlement in the vicinity of the present site of Jos. This settlement was established by a small hill tribe section of the Afuzare Jarawa at the present Ahmadu Bello Way.

Colonel Laws who led the European occupation of the plateau in 1903 wrote of what he saw as follows: …a small hill village called Guash occupied the present location of Jos. Hausa Traders who arrived supposedly mispronounced Guash for Jos, and the name stuck.⁷

According to Gunn, the original native village of Guash was founded by the Afuzare people of the Jarawa tribe who are sometimes called the Afuzare or Jarawa Jos.⁸This name is still in use today to relate to the later generations of settlers of these Jarawa groups now living across the Delimi River on the eastern part of Jos Town. Mallam Fom Gwong and Ajiji Bok, both elders of the Jarawa tribes interviewed in 1972, confirmed the observation of Col. Laws, and added that the Jarawa people were a peaceful tribe which had connections with their neighbours, the Birom, Anaguta, the Buji and Rukuba.⁹The villagers, according to these elders, were farmers and most of them had their farms around their village. Each farmer had his plots surrounded by euphorbia hedges. The most important crops are Acha and Millet.

The people were also good blacksmiths. Field evidence on the Jenta Hills shows that most of the blacksmiths preferred to use special locations among the hills, especially at the banks of small rivers and in areas where iron stone was abundant. The evidence shows heaps of iron slags and ash-heaps, indicating areas where the blacksmiths’ shops were located. Also Mr. Stobart made the following observations as far back as 1914 thus: …the men are remarkably good iron workers and smelters and good agriculturists.¹⁰

There was little trade between Guash Village and the surrounding regions. The natives however have considerable trade with Naraguta where they exchanged their iron implements with Hausa cloth and salt.¹¹The volume of this trade cannot be estimated, but it was on a very limited scale indeed according to the Hausa elders of Naraguta. Nevertheless, it is now established that there was a rural settlement in the area now occupied by Jos. This community was well established with a system of subsistence agriculture and iron working among others.

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Household Characteristics

Households are predominantly male-headed. The proportion of female-headed households was 3.1 % as at year 2000. In 2004, it rose to about 3.6 percent and subsequently to about 5.5 percent in 2005. The average household size is 8.7 with the smallest household comprising one member and the largest household having 47 members (DMTDP, 2010).

Data Collection (Socio-economic)

Reconnaissance Survey and Selection of Research Communities

The sample frame of this study consists of communities close to major abandoned tantalite mining sites in Jos, Plateau. In view of the vast nature of the area, a three-day reconnaissance survey was carried out in the area. In all, forty six (46) communities were visited based on the presence of abandoned tantalite mines close to them. Most of these abandoned mines were small in sizes (50-100 m²). Out of this, nine (9) communities were purposively selected for the study on the basis of their proximity to abandoned mining sites and fall within the range of 400m² and above. The reconnaissance survey helped in determining the tantalite mining sites in respect of their age groups. Mining sites within the age groups 1-5,6-10, and above 10 years after abandonment were identified and selected as treatment.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Age Distribution of Respondents

Figure 4.1 shows the age distribution of respondents for the study. Out of the total respondents 7.8 % were aged between 20-30 years, 55.6 % between 31-40 years and 24.4 % between 41-50 years. Whereas the 51-60 age groups were 7.8 % of the respondents, 60 years and above age group constituted 4.4 %. However, there were statistical similarities (p> 0.05) in relation to ages of respondents in the research communities (Table 4.1).

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

This study examined the respondents‟ perceptions of the impact of tantalite mining on their socio-economic activities and assessed the impacts of tantalite mining on plant biomass. It also assessed changes in soil physicochemical properties in abandoned tantalite mining sites. From the results of the study, the following conclusions can be drawn:

Perception shared among local communities in the LGA is that tantalite mining has contributed to the prevalence of some diseases, loss and/or reduction of farmlands, poor relationship between residents and tantalite miners and low agricultural productivity among others. These effects have therefore been found to have significant impacts on the residents of the communities. This may be attributed to scarcity of agriculturally productive lands currently being experienced in the LGA and that, farmers and other land users could have limited land for use in the future if this un-controlled tantalite mining is not curtailed in the LGA.
Tantalite mining has led to a significant reduction in above-ground plant biomass exposing the land to degradation processes. However, irrespective of duration after tantalite pit abandonment (after mining has stopped), above-ground plant biomass was similar on all the abandoned mines. This could be due to slow rate of plant biomass regeneration which is predominantly grasses with sparse trees and shrubs. It could also be due to occurrence of annual bushfires, overgrazing and tree felling for fuel wood needs. Across the landscape and among the physiognomic classes of both unmined and abandoned tantalite mines, woody biomass (trees and shrubs) produced a 79.5 % of the total representing the highest reservoir of biomass in the study sites. The next reservoir of biomass recorded was Low Growing Flora (LGF) which produced 14.1 % total biomass with the above ground litter recording 6.4 % of the total biomass.

Tantalite mining resulted in a significant decline in the concentration of organic carbon and available potassium while soil pH, % N, CEC and available P did not change. This could be due to loss of OM as a result of loss of vegetative cover in abandoned tantalite pits. Soil physical parameters such as sand, silt, clay and BD were similar on all the mined and un-mined sites. This may be due to textural similarities of the soil and the fact that there was moderate content of clay. Also, Organic carbon (% OC) correlated positively with major soil nutrients (N, P and K) and this suggests that in order to increase levels of N, P and K, management practices such as tree planting and increased vegetative cover can reclaim mined sites with high organic carbon content (% OC).

Recommendations and Policy Implication

To address the impacts of tantalite mining activities the following under-listed recommendations are suggested:

Residents of communities should be made to benefit directly from tantalite pits opened in their areas through participation of the mining activities and selection of sites for the mining. This could improve their economic livelihoods and also enhance their commitments towards reclamation of abandoned tantalite pits which can as well reduce the unhealthy relationship that exist between them and tantalite miners.
Also, opening of pits should be done at distances from communities and closure ensured on timely basis as this can help reduce the prevalence rate of tantalite mining related diseases in the communities.

All relevant stakeholders in the tantalite mining sector including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Minerals Commission, LGA Assemblies, chiefs and land owners among others should strengthen collaboration among themselves for effective enforcement and compliance of the tantalite mining regulation. The law recommends that opening and closure of tantalite pits should be inspected by EPA and if the land size exceeds 5 acres, it has to go through a minor assessment before clearance is offered and if larger than 10 hectares, a full scale EIA is required. Scale of extraction with specifications in terms of depth of mining is all included in the mining guidelines outlined in permit schedules.

EPA should be given signatory status in the award of, and the disbursement of contract funds at the LGA levels. This will ensure that tantalite miners adhere to reclamation bonds and guidelines. Failure to adhere to these guidelines will therefore deny the mining contractors the rights to access the funds. It can also help EPA to regulate opening and closure of tantalite mines.
Agroforestry practices and tree planting in degraded tantalite mining sites should be encouraged as this has proven to dramatically increase the otherwise slow rate of natural forest succession by ameliorating unfavourable soil condition and providing a build-up of soil organic matter and higher above ground biomass.
Generally, tantalite mining alone may not have caused the low levels of soil physicochemical properties in the study sites; it may be as a result of a combination of other factors. Negative activities such as perennial annual bushfires, overcultivation of lands, over-grazing, tree felling for charcoal and other fuel wood requirement may have also contributed to the low levels of soil major nutrients. This therefore calls for collaboration between all stakeholders to enforce local level byelaws in order to regulate people‟s activities in respect of utilisation of environmental resources. Sustained education is required to reduce biomass loss in mining sites. Sanctions and penalties should also be included in the byelaws such that offenders of the laws will be punished accordingly. EPA, Forestry Services Division, MOFA and LGA Assemblies can play leading roles in the facilitation process. This will help develop pragmatic byelaws towards regulating tantalite mining activities more effectively in order to improve availability of productive agricultural lands in the area.

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