Overview
Lead and zinc occur together in mineral veins along the Benue Trough, the long geological depression that runs diagonally across Nigeria. The best-known workings are around Abakaliki and Ishiagu in Ebonyi State, where the ores have been mined industrially and by hand for the best part of a century.
Where it's found
History of exploitation
The veins were identified in colonial geological surveys in the first decades of the twentieth century, and mining at Abakaliki and Ishiagu developed from around the 1920s and 1930s, with lead concentrates exported through the southern ports during colonial rule. Industrial working declined later in the century, and much of the current activity is small-scale, worked alongside quarrying for aggregate in the same districts.
Economic role
Lead and zinc were among the minerals that gave the eastern provinces an extractive industry alongside coal at Enugu. Their present contribution is modest, and no output figures are given here.
Environmental and social impact
Lead is toxic, and workings that expose or crush lead-bearing rock carry documented risks of contaminating soil, water and dust in nearby settlements, particularly where ore is handled without controls. Abandoned pits and spoil in the Abakaliki and Ishiagu districts remain a local hazard, and the same districts have seen quarry dust and blasting complaints.