Nigeria, July 1 -- Bayelsa State currently hosts 40 valid mineral titles, including 12 licences for the mining of ilmenite and titanium across parts of the state, a PREMIUM TIMES review of official mining records has shown.

The finding comes as Governor Douye Diri called for stricter regulation of black sand mining activities, warning that unchecked extraction of the mineral-rich resource could worsen environmental degradation and trigger severe erosion in the coastal state.

PREMIUM TIMES reviewed the Valid Mineral Titles Register published by the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office as of February 2026 and found 40 active mineral titles in Bayelsa. Among them are 12 mining licences covering the extraction of ilmenite and titanium in Brass, E...