Futa Journal Of Engineering And Engineering Technology

 Published Research

 Prospects Of Oil Sands Mining In Nigeria

 Omotehinse, Adeyinka O

 2023

An overview of oil sands in the southwestern region of Nigeria was carried out to critically discuss why the oil sands should be developed. A review reserves statistics was carried out within different locations and it shows the presence of extensive oil sands deposits and indicates that the oil sands bearing beds are continuous throughout the study area. The laboratory analysis of samples collected during the fieldwork showed that the samples collected have a high bitumen content and the sulphur content was within the range of 1.91% and 0.89%. Outcrops of oil sands were visible on the banks of most of the rivers and farmlands are seen impregnated with bitumen. Some drilled holes were seen, which confirmed the previous exploration activities in the area. The presence of oil sands deposit at a very shallow depth was confirmed indicating that surface mining can be carried out in the area. Therefore, oil sands should be developed in Nigeria for the country's self-reliance on its own natural resource, and the exploitation of this resource will offer a great opportunity for technological development. In addition, the country will be able to save a huge amount of foreign exchange and reduce the dependence on crude oil resources. 

 Springer

 Published Research

 Mining And The Sustainable Development Goals: Prioritizing SDG Targets For Proper Environmental Governance

 Omotehinse Adeyinka O.; Giorgio De Tomi

 2022

Inability to ensure sustainable mining practice has brought the awareness that mining enterprises must be more pragmatic on achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in their operations. This research propose a new approach to select and prioritize relevant targets to the industry, which will allow companies, communities, and public authorities to establish a proper framework for environmental governance. The methodology includes appraisal of questionnaires, prioritization of targets following a thorough screening and quantitative assessment, and a bipartite network analysis approach. The results indicate that 55 out of the 169 targets were considered relevant for oil sands mining. The targets in SDGs 1, 12, and 16 were identified as having high or very high priority. There was high correlation between proposed conditions and targets based on the bipartite analysis, which signifies that the people’s opinion has relevance in the priority ratings. To achieve SDGs, the implication of mining activities on the environment must be addressed. It was concluded that targets with high relevance in the three phases of mining should be given high consideration when establishing governance principles. Furthermore, engagement of relevant stakeholders that will be impacted directly or indirectly by mining operations is critical in the pursuit of achieving SDGs. 

 Springer Nature

 Published Research

 A Systematic Review Of Artisanal And Small-scale Mining: Impacts In Alleviating Poverty In Africa

 Omotehinse Adeyinka O.; Samson Ogunlade

 2022

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities have contributed, in most cases, to the rural development of some African countries. Practically, these activities have influenced the environmental, health and socioeconomic status. In essence, there is a need to investigate how these activities fuel poverty eradication in Africa. Here, a comprehensive systematic review of academic articles and investigation of the impacts of ASM in Africa with respect to poverty alleviation were presented. Of the 1069 study literature found in Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct databases , a total of 18 articles were selected as most of these articles discussed the positive and negative impacts of ASM in Africa. It was observed that ASM is illegal in most African countries and have severe impacts on the environment. However, it has contributed to the economy and has helped to sustain people's livelihood. In conclusion , the government needs to legalize ASM and provide monetary intervention for artisanal miners to improve their mining activities. Influentially, this will mitigate the negative impacts associated with ASM and improve individual's livelihood at large. 

 Inderscience

 Published Research

 Assessment Of The Economic And Socio-environmental Potential Of Small-scale Mining Of Oil Sands In Ondo State, Nigeria

 Omotehinse, Adeyinka O; Giorgio De Tomi

 2021

Despite the vast abundance of oil sands in Nigeria, a comparative economic assessment is yet to be carried out to evaluate the feasibility of different mining arrangements to exploit it. This research investigates the appropriate approach for the exploitation of the oil sands deposits in order to improve the local economy and to minimise the natural contamination associated to the oil sands. A preliminary economic assessment and sensitivity analysis were carried out on the variables. The results indicate that the mining scenario with synthetic crude oil production is not likely to be feasible because of the significant capital expenditure required and the competition from higher-quality oil reservoirs both onshore and offshore oil. The results show that social license to operate scenario, even with an additional investment of CAD$3 M, delivers a net present value 11% higher than the scenario without a specific allocation for social license to orientated investments. 

 Elsevier

 Published Research

 Managing The Challenges Of Obtaining A Social License To Operate In The Pre-mining Phase: A Focus On The Oil Sands Communities In Ondo State, Nigeria

 Omotehinse, Adeyinka O; Giorgio De Tomi

 2020

The mining industry, as a result of how mining activities are carried out and their impacts on the environment, has learnt different approaches to analyzing and handling critical issues. This has also helped the industry understand that obtaining a formal license to operate from governments and meeting regulatory requirements is no longer enough. In order to reduce the risks of stakeholders’ complaints and operational delays, a social license to operate (SLO) needs to be obtained. Failure to obtain an SLO may lead to the inability to explore economically valuable mineral resources. This research aimed to carry out a study on some oil sands deposits communities in Nigeria to identify the challenges that will be faced by a mining company when it seeks to obtain an SLO to explore these resources, and to discuss how to manage these challenges in order to avoid repeating the mistakes made by the oil and gas industries in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Based on results, it was concluded that the major challenges that a mining company will encounter are, first, the difficulty to communicate with the local communities, due to the high linguistic diversity and the poor formal education of the members of these communities, and second, the need to educate the locals about the negative socio-environmental impacts of pre-mining activities. Other important challenges are: proper identification of the actual stakeholders, since the communities are contiguous; gaining the local communities’ trust; mitigating the effects of pre-mining activities on socio-environmental and economic aspects of the community; overcoming the companies’ lack of information on the local communities and lack of understanding about the complexities involved in obtaining and maintaining an SLO. To deal with these challenges, the mining company should apply mitigation measures and compensations where necessary. A local liaison officer should be employed to communicate with the community. The mining company must be truthful in its dealings with the community and be able to earn their trust. In conclusion, a mining company must be ready to work, support and establish a long lasting relationship with the community to obtain a SLO. 

 Springer

 Published Research

 Proactive Management Of Ecosystem Services In Oil Sands Pre-mining Phase

 Omotehinse, Adeyinka O; Giorgio De Tomi; Yvette Baninla

 2019

Ecosystems and their services are essential to human well-being, but mining activities often cause adverse impacts on these services. Although impact of mining activities is experienced throughout the life of a mine, pre-mining phase was considered in this research because it determines the relationship of the mining industries with the community. In addition, mining companies must be conscious of how to mitigate its impacts on the environment in every stage as much as possible. Past researchers either have stated the impacts of pre-mining on the environment not explicitly considering the ecosystem services, or they have assessed the effects of mining on the ecosystem not taking into account the pre-mining activities or the ecosystem services. In this research, an existing methodology of ecosystem services was applied to the oil sands deposits located in Ondo state, Nigeria. The results include an appraisal of the demographic information, land use maps, types of ecosystems, ecosystem services, and the use of these services to the communities. The results of the prioritized ecosystem service, proposed mitigation measures that can be taken, and an assessment on the outcome of the proposed mitigation measures on the ecosystem services were also obtained. The conclusions are that the ecosystem service review can be an appropriate approach for mitigating impacts of pre-mining activities on ecosystem services. However, the ecosystem services methodology that was applied can be improved by assessing the outcome of the mitigation measures to know if there will be any significant reduction in impact occurrences and by giving the feedback of the mitigation measures to the community.