Overview#
Kwara has gold at Patigi-Babanla, the Tada-Etsu-Nupe glass-sand belt, limestone at Lokoja-border Bode-Sa'adu, and a long agricultural anchor (rice at Lafiagi, sugar-cane at Bacita / Lafiagi via BUA Sugar, cassava and tobacco). It also hosts the Bacita Sugar Estate (the country's historic sugar baseline), and the Patigi-Babanla artisanal-gold cluster.
Geology & Deposits#
Gold. Patigi, Babanla, Kaiama — Niger-Kwara basement complex gold belt. Limestone. Bode-Sa'adu (Moro LGA), Jakura marble. Marble & dolomite. Jakura — feeds the Nigerian Marble & Mining Company. Glass-sand. Tada-Lafiagi-Patigi (Niger River alluvials). Iron-ore. Mokwa-border (small). Tin / cassiterite. Erin-Ile (small). Sugar-cane. Bacita / Lafiagi fadama — supplies BUA Sugar Refinery Lafiagi (rebuilt 2018). Rice. Patigi, Edu, Lafiagi LGAs. Tobacco. Ilorin–Kwara plains — historic British American Tobacco (BAT) growing area.
Operators & Output#
- BUA Sugar (Lafiagi) — sugar-cane to refined sugar. - NMMC Jakura — marble. - WACOT / Olam Lafiagi — rice. - Artisanal gold operators — Patigi/Babanla.
Host-Community & Revenue#
No derivation. Solid-mineral royalties to the federation. The Bacita-Lafiagi sugar belt is a federal "backward integration" anchor under the Sugar Master Plan.
Current Status#
Producing: Lafiagi sugar (BUA), Jakura marble, Patigi-Lafiagi rice, Tada glass-sand. Dormant: tobacco at industrial scale (BAT exited mid-2000s).
References
Sources#
- BUA Sugar Lafiagi plant disclosure.
- National Sugar Development Council — Master Plan 2017.
- Nigerian Geological Survey Agency — Kwara basement sheets.