LAGOS, Nigeria (XOL Africa) — Terra Industries has secured $2 million in contracts with two lithium mining companies in Nigeria, deploying autonomous surveillance technology at mining sites just one week after launching its commercial division.
The agreements will see Terra deploy 20 Sentry Towers and four Iroko drones across the companies’ operations for surveillance, real-time threat detection and response. The systems are powered by ArtemisOS, Terra’s autonomous command-and-control platform.
The company said the contracts are expected to expand as mining operators bring additional sites online.
Terra’s commercial division was established to provide surveillance and deterrence systems for critical infrastructure operators, using technology developed within the same autonomous framework the company supplies to defense customers.
“Terra’s commercial division builds surveillance and deterrence systems for those sites using the same autonomous stack the company supplies to defence customers,” the company said.
Terra said its systems are designed to give operators greater visibility over their assets and improve their ability to detect and respond quickly to security threats.
The contracts come as interest in Nigeria’s lithium resources grows. The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency has previously reported discoveries of high-grade lithium in several parts of the country, attracting interest from international investors.
Dr. Abdulrazaq Garba, director-general of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, said the country’s lithium deposits have attracted significant attention because of their quality and potential uses.
“Nigeria’s lithium is hot cake now,” Garba told journalists in Abuja.
He said lithium was discovered in several parts of the country during the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project and that subsequent analysis showed the deposits could contain significantly higher concentrations than the international benchmark used for exploration and mining.
“High grade in the sense that the standard worldwide for even exploration and mining starts from 0.4 per cent lithium oxide but when we started exploration and mining, we saw one per cent up to 13 per cent lithium oxide content,” Garba said.
He also highlighted what he described as another advantage of Nigeria’s deposits: hard-rock lithium.
“Another advantage of Nigerian lithium is that it is hard rock lithium, and that is what investors are looking out for worldwide,” he said.
Lithium is used in rechargeable batteries that power consumer electronics, electric vehicles and energy-storage systems, making the mineral increasingly important to the global energy transition.
For Terra, the Nigerian contracts mark an early commercial expansion beyond its defense-focused operations. The company said mining, oil and power operators across Africa face security challenges around critical assets in areas where security coverage is limited and response times can be slow.
Terra’s commercial operations are intended to address those challenges through autonomous surveillance and deterrence technologies.
Founded in 2024, Terra Industries describes itself as a multi-domain systems and data intelligence company focused on defense and security applications in Africa and the Global South.
The company develops integrated air, land and maritime systems powered by ArtemisOS, its unified software platform for large-scale security operations.
Terra said it works with governments, infrastructure operators and strategic partners across Africa and internationally, with applications spanning energy, mineral resources, urban infrastructure, maritime assets, border security and counterterrorism operations.
The company’s expansion into commercial mining security comes as Nigeria seeks to increase investment in its mineral sector and develop domestic value chains around critical minerals such as lithium.
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