Executives sentenced after global company caught exploiting dangerous loophole

As Nigeria's mining industry booms, foreign nationals are flocking to get in on the precious materials and make huge profits. While it's a bit of a Wild West scene, as the AP detailed, the government is starting to fight back.

The Guild reported on the Nigerian Federal High Court's sentencing of two Chinese nationals, Yang Chao and Wu Shan Chuan, to two years in jail for illegally mining and selling solid minerals.

The two men operate the Crius Chemical Nigeria company, which is based in Kwara State. They each pleaded guilty to committing the crimes in violation of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, per the Guild.

The country's crackdown on illegal mining started in earnest in April 2024, as the AP reported. The country's mining industry is young, and illegal operations are common, with corruption rampant. Nigerian officials say profits from illegal mining have been funneled to militia groups, the AP relayed.

Further reporting by the AP uncovered that illicit child labor with teams of kids as young as five is common in Nigeria's loosely regulated industry.

Chinese companies are implicated in many of these operations, engaging in exploitative child labor and unsanctioned mining, the AP noted. Illegal mining can also put the workers in peril, like the children working in many of Nigeria's mines.

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Nigeria is not the only country facing these issues, as neighboring Niger recently had a crackdown of its own problems with unlicensed mining. With lithium being deployed to power EVs and cell phones, the costs of extraction, both from a human rights and an environmental standpoint, are increasingly of concern.

The enforcement of laws that protect workers and the environment is a good step in the right direction. Scientists are also hard at work to make advancements in mining that will make lithium mining more efficient and less resource-intensive. That can make a dent in the extreme amount of water, chemicals, and dirty energy used in the process.

In this case, each of the defendants will have to pay a fine of one million Naira (approximately $620 USD), as will their company. Crius Chemical Nigeria will also have to turn back 14 million Naira (approximately $8,700 USD), as well as return all of the solid minerals found on company property, the Guild reported.

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