8 Nigerian multimillionaires who made a fortune in mining

Nigeria is sitting on gold. Real gold. And not just gold — columbite, tantalite, lithium and a cocktail of rare earths that power everything from Teslas to iPhones to guided missiles. Whoever controls those supply chains will shape the next few decades of global power.

On paper, that should make Nigeria a strategic winner. In reality, for years the country’s mining belt has looked like the Wild West.

Across Zamfara, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue, Taraba and parts of the North-Central, mining has boomed in the shadows: pits gouged out of farmland, streams turned the colour of rust, convoys of trucks rolling out at odd hours. In village after village, people talk about “strangers” who arrive after dusk, dig by floodlight and vanish before dawn — while ore heads out under armed escort. These stories aren’t folklore; they mirror the arrests and raids the federal government now announces almost weekly.

A good chunk of that chaos has been linked to loosely regulated Chinese-backed operations, local fronts and militia protection rackets that treat insecurity as a tool of acquisition. In some communities, attacks have pushed residents out, conveniently “freeing” land that just happens to sit on rich seams of gold or lithium. Journalists and civil society groups returning to those areas describe hillsides flayed open, topsoil stripped, and rivers clogged with tailings.

That is the backdrop facing Dele Alake, Nigeria’s current Minister of Solid Minerals. Since 2024, his ministry has deployed a dedicated Mining Marshals unit under the NSCDC, revoked licences, shut down rogue pits and dragged hundreds of illegal operators — including Chinese nationals — into court. Over 300 suspects have been arrested, and nearly 100 sites reclaimed for legitimate mining in just over a year, according to the ministry’s own tally. It’s an aggressive clean-up drive, but it’s also an admission of how much was lost while Nigeria looked the other way.

Meanwhile, the world is scrambling to reduce its dependence on China, which still dominates rare earth mining and over 80–90% of global refining capacity. As its own reserves mature, Beijing has turned more tightly toward Africa. Nigeria — with documented deposits of lithium, tin, columbite and tantalum scattered across Nasarawa, Kogi, Plateau, Benue and beyond — has become part of that quiet contest.

Inside that troubled landscape is a very different story: a small circle of Nigerian entrepreneurs who have decided to go legit, play long, and build fortunes by treating mining not as a smash-and-grab, but as a proper business. Some have gone from mid-tier operators to billion-naira players; others have parlayed backgrounds in energy, steel or logistics into serious mineral bets.

This is a snapshot of eight of them — not a complete roll call, because new names are emerging every year — but a good lens on how real money is now being made in Nigeria’s mines.

1. Segun Lawson — Thor Explorations (Gold)

If there is one project that proves Nigeria can host serious, industrial-scale gold mining, it’s Segilola. And the man most closely associated with it is Segun Lawson, CEO and president of Thor Explorations Ltd.

Lawson has helmed Thor since 2011, steering its acquisitions, financing and, crucially, the move on Segilola in Osun State — billed as the highest-grade open-pit gold project in West Africa when it was brought to development. Today, Segilola runs as a 24-hour operation, with a processing plant that has turned Thor from a junior explorer into a cash-generating producer.

Lawson’s bet was contrarian. For years, serious gold investors wrote Nigeria off as too messy: weak regulation, security risk, unclear titles. He went the other way — betting that if the geology checked out and the company built strong relationships with regulators and communities, the risk premium would eventually compress and the asset would be re-rated. It did.

Segilola has become the flagship for Nigeria’s attempt to prove that world-class mining can exist within its borders — and Lawson, the man who placed the bet early, has been rewarded accordingly.

2 &3 . Raj and Alok Gupta — African Natural Resources and Mines Limited (Iron Ore)

When people talk about diversifying Nigeria away from oil, most of it is wishful thinking. Raj and Alok Gupta, through African Industries Group, chose the hard route: steel.

Their mining arm, African Natural Resources and Mines Limited (ANRML), is behind a $600 million integrated iron-ore and steel project in Kaduna State — one of the largest non-oil industrial investments in Nigeria’s modern history. The operation mines locally, processes on-site and feeds a direct reduced iron (DRI) plant that supplies both local and regional steel demand.

4. Innocent O. Ezuma — ETA-Zuma Group (Coal and Power)

Coal may not be fashionable in the era of ESG, but Dr. Innocent Ezuma doesn’t care. His ETA-Zuma Group is one of Nigeria’s biggest private mining conglomerates, with operations spanning coal, power, and industrial fuel.

When he returned to Nigeria in the mid-2000s, Ezuma saw opportunity in the country’s neglected coal belt. He built one of the first serious processing plants in Kogi State, later expanding into coal-to-power projects. The company’s briquette factory — with capacity for 5,000 tonnes per day — remains one of the few in Africa capable of producing cleaner-burning industrial coal.

5. Murtala Laushi — Malcomines (Iron Ore, Tin, Rare Earths)

In a sector filled with noise, Murtala Laushi keeps his head down. His company, Malcomines, is one of Nigeria’s largest privately held mining outfits, with interests in iron ore, tin, columbite and rare earths across the north-central corridor.

Tin and columbite once made Jos famous; Laushi’s team has returned to those fields with modern geology and patient capital. Malcomines also holds concessions in battery-relevant minerals — a quiet but strategic hedge as global demand shifts.

Wealthy, discreet, and deeply embedded in local operations, Laushi represents the old-school miner reinvented for a modern commodities cycle. His story isn’t about headlines — it’s about endurance, and it has made him one of Nigeria’s richest men you rarely hear about.

6. Abdulfatai Yahaya Seriki — Kursi Investments Limited (Base Metals & Gemstones)

A businessman and politician, Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahaya Seriki built Kursi Investments Limited into one of Nigeria’s most diversified mining houses. Operating across more than 20 states, Kursi handles exploration, processing and export of base metals, gemstones and rare earths.

Seriki’s strategy is to stay nimble: pick undervalued prospects, fund early exploration, then scale or partner. That approach has kept Kursi profitable while many peers collapsed under debt or overreach.

At mining summits, Seriki has become a steady voice for local beneficiation — pushing for Nigerian firms to move beyond extraction and into refining and manufacturing. Behind the diplomacy is a sharp operator who knows how to turn ground data into gold.

7. Jegede Abiodun Paul — Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc (Gold, Lithium, Copper)

For most of its life, Japaul was known for something else entirely — offshore logistics and dredging for the oil and gas sector. Then its founder and chairman, Jegede Abiodun Paul, made one of Nigeria’s boldest corporate pivots: from oilfield services to solid minerals.

Rebranded as Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc, the company obtained licences for gold, lithium, copper, lead, and zinc, raising over ₦20 billion on the Nigerian Exchange and securing a $20 million investment commitment from GEM Global Yield.

Jegede’s vision was timing perfection. As the world shifted toward clean energy and the need for critical minerals surged, he repositioned Japaul from offshore workboats to onshore mining rigs. Today, Japaul stands as one of the few listed Nigerian companies with a real foothold in precious and strategic minerals — and Jegede, once an oil-services man, is now a mining mogul in his own right.

8. Emotan Josephine Aburime-Shine — Emotan Global Ventures (Gemstones & Industrial Minerals)

Emotan Josephine Aburime-Shine doesn’t just mine — she refines, polishes, and exports value. Her company, Emotan Global Ventures, and its affiliate Piramen Ventures, focus on gemstones and industrial minerals.

Unlike most Nigerian miners who sell raw ore, Emotan has invested in processing facilities for cutting, carving, and finishing gemstones for both domestic and international buyers. Her argument is simple: exporting raw stones is exporting jobs. By controlling more of the value chain, she’s managed to create both impact and profit.