This study attempts an evaluation of the impacts of mine closure on the Barites mining communities in Nasarawa state. Therefore, it uses descriptive and inferential approach; it however employed changes in disposable income, change in aggregate demand, change in population, changes in economic activities, and hectare of land degraded as the basis for evaluation of the social and economic implication of mine closure on the livelihood of the Barites mining communities in the state, Data were generated from primary source and were analyzed using Logit regression technique. The study established that closure of Barites mining activities in the state has slowed down economic activities as well as the livelihood capabilities of the mining communities such that, their chances of recovery is very slim. The study posits that closure of mining activities have brought some implications in the area of employment opportunities, decrease in disposable income and wealth creation. It however dislocates the social values of the inhabitants leading to high rate of crime, and alarming percentage of teenage pregnancy, HIV AIDS and broken marriages. The study suggests that both the mining companies and the government should mitigate these implications by providing the mining communities with the essential threshold of life that may re-engineer their livelihood to the threshold of their capabilities. Apart from this, the closure of mines should follow a gradual and adaptive processes, as well as legal procedure with adequate consultation with the inhabitance taken into account that the mine is their chief source of livelihood.

Barites

Mines Closure

Stakeholders

Mining Communities

Livelihood