ABUJA, Nigeria 

President Muhammadu Buhari said Thursday that the government is set to reform gold mining that will produce a revenue of $500 million annually.

Buhari said 250,000 people would be employed with new steps to be taken in the gold mining sector.

New regulations would boost the sector and a legal status would be granted for those mining gold, he said.

Buhari said reform movements would boost revenues and the central bank would buy gold from small-scale miners at a reasonable price.

The presence of armed groups in northwestern Nigeria lead to a security vacuum and an increase in illegal gold mining, which, according to the president, caused a loss of $3 billion from 2012 to 2018.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas