Nigeria is set to take centre stage at African Mining Week (AMW) 2025, scheduled for October 1-3 in Cape Town, where a dedicated session will spotlight the country’s mining ambitions and showcase key projects and investment opportunities.
This year’s AMW will reinforce Nigeria’s rising status as a significant player in the continent’s mining landscape – this is in line with the country’s divestment from oil resources.
The session will shed light on Nigeria’s progress in unlocking its vast mineral reserves, driven by a combination of government policies, private sector engagement, and strategic partnerships.
In April 2025, Nigeria entered a landmark cooperation agreement with South Africa—Africa’s most advanced mining nation—aimed at promoting investment, facilitating technology transfer, and enhancing knowledge exchange. The partnership is expected to accelerate growth in Nigeria’s mining industry by drawing on South Africa’s experience and institutional capacity.
Nigeria’s mining sector has been gaining traction in recent times. Titan Minerals Limited is leading exploration efforts across multiple fronts, including phosphate in Sokoto, bitumen in Edo and Ondo, and gold along the Schist Belt. The company is actively seeking partners to bring additional gold, base metals, and platinum group metals (PGM) prospects to feasibility stage.
Alao, Thor Explorations has begun underground drilling at the Segilola Gold Mine—the nation’s first industrial-scale gold operation—with plans to boost production to between 85,000 and 95,000 ounces in 2025.
In a further demonstration of renewed commitment, gold, lithium, and copper exploration resumed in Zamfara earlier this year. These initiatives form part of a broader push to attract new investment into Nigeria’s mining sector.
Nigeria boasts a considerable portfolio of mineral resources, including an estimated 42.5 billion tonnes of probable bitumen reserves—ranked sixth globally—alongside 10.6 billion tonnes of limestone, 2.75 billion tonnes of coal, over 3 billion tonnes of iron ore, and 21.4 metric tonnes of gold. With such extensive reserves, the country is positioning itself as a potential mining hub capable of driving industrialisation, employment, and sustained economic growth.
African Mining Week 2025 offers a timely and strategic platform for Nigeria to present its achievements, engage with international investors, and map out the policy, infrastructure, and collaboration frameworks necessary to unlock the sector’s full potential. As interest in the country’s mineral prospects continues to grow, Nigeria is making a clear case for itself as a future leader in sustainable mineral development on the African continent.