Occurrence & Locations

Detailed information about where Gold is found across Nigeria

Paikoro

Niger State • Paikoro LGA

2019

Location Details:

Kataregi is a viilage under kacha Local Government is one of the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria and one of 25 Local Government areas in Niger-State Nigeria.

Specifications:

Unspecified

Estimated Reserves:

(22-24 carrat)

Coordinates: 9.391480°N, 6.555400°E

ATAKUMOSA

Osun State • Atakunmosa East LGA

2019

Location Details:

Atakunmosa West is a Local Government Area in Osun State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Osu in the north of the area. It has an area of 577 km² and a population of 68,643 at the 2006 census

Specifications:

Unspecified

Estimated Reserves:

Unmeasured

Coordinates: 7.350000°N, 4.370000°E

Bindim Village

Zamfara State • Maru LGA

2019

Location Details:

Bindim is a village popularly known of its Gold deposits which has led to many illegal mining operations

Specifications:

Au 89%,Ag: 6, Cu 3%,Pb:1%,Zn:1%

Estimated Reserves:

Estimated: 21 tones

Coordinates: 11.687810°N, 6.335150°E

Zurmi

Zamfara State • Zurmi LGA

2019

Location Details:

Zurmi is a Local Government Area in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Zurmi at12°46′00″N 6°47′10″E. It has an area of 2,834 km² and a population of 293,837 at the 2006 census

Specifications:

Au 89%,Ag: 6, Cu 3%,Pb:1%,Zn:1%

Estimated Reserves:

Estimated: 17 tones

Coordinates: 12.784500°N, 6.784200°E

Overview

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79, making it one of the highest atomic number elements that occur naturally. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element.

Gold is a natural resource deposit mainly found in the Northern part of Nigeria, Iperindo in Osun State and other areas near Maru, Tsohon Birnin Gwari-Kwaga, Gurmana, Anka, Malele, Bin Yauri and Okolom-Dogondaji.

Though gold is not dominant in the country, other states with smaller deposits include; Abia, Abuja, Bauchi, Edo, Cross River, Niger, Sokoto, Osun, Oyo State, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara. In Nigeria, all operations about gold from production to exploration, mining, and refining was mainly significant in the year 1913 with its highest production in the early 1930s but unfortunately, few years after the promising mineral exploration and production, the production of gold in Nigeria declined due to the Second World War in 1939 which resulted in abandonment of mines by the colonial companies that was at then the head of the Nigerian gold production.

Gold resists attacks by individual acids, but it can be dissolved by the aqua regia (nitro-hydrochloric acid), so named because it dissolves gold. Gold also dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which have been used in mining. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys.

Uses & Applications

Jewelry
Money/finance
Investment
Collateral for a loan
Dentistry
Medicine
Mobile phones
Computers/laptops
In space
Food/drink
Manufacturing
Buildings
Cosmetics/beauty
Printing
Displaying wealth & status

Characteristics

Appearance: Metallic yellow

Crystal structure: lattice face centered cubic

Magnetic ordering : diamagnetic

Electrical resistivity: (20 °C) 22.14 nΩ·m`

Thermal conductivity: 318 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹

Thermal expansion : (25 °C) 14.2 µm·m⁻¹·K⁻¹

Speed of Sound (thin rod): (r.t.) 2030 m·s⁻¹

Tensile strength: 120 MPa

Young modulus: 79 GPa

Shear modulus: 27 GPa

Bulk modulus: 180 GPa

Poisson ratio: 0.44

Mohs hardness: 2.5

Vickers hardness: 216 MPa

Brinell hardness: 25 HB MPa

CAS registry number: 7440-57-5

Occurrence

Gold in Nigeria is found in alluvial and eluvial placers and primary veins from several parts of supracrustal (schist) belts in the northwest and southwest of Nigeria.

The most important occurrences are found in Oyo, Kogi, Kebbi, Cross-River, Kwara, Osun,Ogun, Niger, Kaduna, and Zamfara states all associated with the schist belts of northwest and southwest Nigeria. There are also a number of smaller occurrences beyond these major areas

Investment Opportunities

Nigeria has proven reserves of both alluvial and primary deposits of gold with proven reserves in the schist belt covering the western half of Nigeria. At present exploitation of alluvial deposits is being carried out mostly by artisan miners in a few places in the country. A number of primary deposits, which are sufficiently big for large scale mechanized mining, have been identified in the northwest and southwest parts of the country.

Gold is arguably the most popular amongst investors of precious metals. The price is gold in the international market have been on a steady increase and there is always a market for the commodity. Investors can take opportunity to venture into gold exploration and processing for domestic market and export. The return on investment in gold rock in Nigeria is between 30-60% depending on the quantity of gold contained in the rock sample.